Digimon: Almost
by elena00dgmpkm
Summary: This is my first fanfic! It's Koumi, Taiora, and a little Takari and Kenyako. WARNING: There will be some Sorato and Michi but don't worry too much about it, Koumi and Taiora fans. Enjoy! Now Complete!
1. Reflecting

Alright! First fanfic! YAY!! I really hope you guys are gonna like this! Please don't say mean things about it in your comments. And if you like it please comment!

Ok, disclaimer time. I don't own Digimon. If I did, there would be Taiora, Koumi, and Takari!!!! AND THERE WOULD NOT BE ANY SORATO!!! I'm sorry all Sorato fans, I just really like Taiora and Sorato angers me. I'm sure there are things that just get under your skin too. Well anyway, hope you like it and umm, enjoy! Please!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 1: Reflecting

(A week after the first DigiDestined left the Digital World and returned home)

Izzy sat in his room with his computer off, something very strange for him. Izzy was the type of person that went on the computer when he wanted to have fun and when he wanted to hide from his problems. The fact that he was sitting on his bed looking at his ceiling showed that something was wrong.

He was thinking about something that no one would ever think he would need to think about. People always thought that Izzy's biggest problems were that his computer wouldn't start. But that was far from the truth. He kept replaying one night he had had in the Digital World over and over in his head. A night that just wouldn't leave him alone. A night that seemed like it changed everything. He suddenly had a flashback to that night in the Digital World…

Izzy sighed and sat back. He was sitting with Tentamon in a different part of the woods then everyone else. He was thinking about something and Tentamon was a little worried. He hadn't even taken out his computer that night yet.

"Izzy, are you ok? You seem distracted." Tentamon asked worriedly.

Izzy looked over at his Digimon partner. "Well…" He paused but then he thought about it and he knew he could tell Tentamon anything. "Do you remember when Devimon spilt up File Island and we found Mimi before anyone else?"

"Yes, I remember that. We were in those old ruins." Remembered Tentamon.

"Yes. That's what I'm talking about. Do you remember how I made Mimi start crying?" He asked.

Tentamon nodded. "Because you were ignoring her and then she ran off and we got stuck in the maze. What about that day, Izzy?" He asked.

Izzy frowned. "Ever since that day. I've felt a bit strange."

"Maybe you ate some bad mushrooms." Tentamon suggested and Izzy laughed.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that I feel strange…whenever I'm around Mimi." He confessed. "I think I'm falling for her." He told Tentamon.

Izzy stood up and looked at Tentamon who hadn't said anything after his confession. "We should get back to the group. They might be eating soon and I'm starving." He told Tentamon who nodded his head and smiled.

Izzy walked through the trees towards the others and he stepped on something. All of the sudden, Izzy heard a yelp. He froze. He knew who's voice that was. He knew how close it was. He turned around and saw that the bush was moving.

Then he saw Mimi stand up slowly and give him a nervous smile. She had heard everything. Or at least the end. That was all she needed to hear. He looked at her with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. He didn't say anything. He couldn't. He was stuck standing there like an idiot.

Suddenly, Mimi started moving. He thought she was going to turn and walk away, but instead she walked closer to him. He was still frozen. She got so close that her face was soon only inches away from his. She then closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his…

That had been the greatest moment of Izzy's life. But it had all ended so quickly. She had suddenly pulled away and ran back to the group, leaving him standing there all alone. Palamon and Tentamon with a huge look of confusion on both of their faces as Palamon left with Mimi.

But that one night was never talked about again. Izzy only fell more in love with Mimi and Mimi just avoided him. Never talking about it with anyone for all he knew. He hadn't told anyone. He was dumbfounded and in love and he had no idea what he was doing…

Mimi was in her room packing. Her family was moving to America. Suddenly her phone rang and she answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Hey Mimi. It's Tai."

"Oh, hi Tai! What's up?" She asked, confused about why he'd be calling her.

"Oh, well…" He sounded nervous.

"Tai, what is it?" She asked again, now extremely curious.

"Well, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go the movies or something with me." He said quickly, sounded hopeful.

Mimi, not catching on to what he was asking, smiled. "Movies? I love the movies! So who else is going? Is Sora going to be there? And Matt and the others?"

"Uh, no. Just you…and me…" He tried to explain without really explaining.

"Oh. I see…" she said. She didn't say anything for a moment trying to think of whether she wanted to go on a date with Tai. Suddenly she got a flashback of the last day at camp when they had just gotten back from the Digital World and she had seen all her friends again.

"Hey Mimi. Who's that?" They asked her, eyeing Tai.

"That's Tai." She told them. "He's really nice."

"And cute." One of them said, giggling.

Mimi tilted her head and looked at Tai for a moment. She had never seen him like that. She glanced at Izzy for a moment and then her friends started laughing and she turned around.

"Mimi…who's that?" they asked between giggles.

Mimi frowned and looked at her friends. "That's Izzy. And why are you laughing?" she asked.

"Look at him! He's the biggest nerd I've ever seen." They said, watching as he pulled out his computer and started typing on it as he walked towards the bus.

"He happens to be my friend." She told them and they stopped laughing.

"What? How are you friends with him??" they asked in disbelieve.

"What do you mean? He happens to be very nice."

"Whatever you say Mimi." They said before getting on their bus. Mimi looked at Izzy and then at Tai and shook her head.

Suddenly she was brought back to reality and she clenched her fist. "Tai. I'd love to." She told him.

"Really? I mean great. I'll meet you there at 7:00 pm tomorrow night."

"Sounds great." Mimi told him and then hung up the phone. She sat down on the floor and sighed. Suddenly the only thing running through her mind was Izzy. And that one night. She remembered it clearly.

She had over heard him talking to Tentamon and so she had hid in a bush with Palamon. He had told Tentamon that he was falling for her. Something inside her shifted with those words. He had gotten up and then found her in the bushes. She had stood up and he looked like he saw a ghost. She didn't know what came over her then. She just found herself walking closer to him and before she knew it, she was kissing him. What he didn't know, was that she had been more surprised then he had been.

Once she realized what she was doing though, she stopped and ran. She ran back to the group and didn't say a word to anyone. She told them that he said he'd be there in a minute. And he was. He looked pale white and everyone had asked what was wrong. But he just shook his head, looked at Mimi out of the corner of his eyes and said he was fine.

She looked at the wall and sighed, thinking of her date with Tai. Where had that come from? She didn't know Tai had ever liked her that way. Then she suddenly felt bad. She knew that Sora liked Tai. How was she going to explain that? She picked up the phone and dialed Sora's number.

"Hello?" Sora answered.

"Hi Sora. It's Mimi. I need to talk to you. Maybe we should go out to lunch."

Tai sat on his bed smiling. Mimi had agreed to go out with him. Then he frowned. "That'll show stupid Sora." He grumbled. He didn't need her. She didn't need him so what made him need her? He had thought she had liked him. Apparently he had been very wrong. She had told him in the Digital World that she had liked him. And he had told her in return. Guess that didn't mean anything anymore.

"Hey Tai!" Sora called. He turned around and she waved her hand at him to show she wanted him to come over. He smiled brightly at the thought of talking to her and started walking towards her. He had been feeling even closer to her and all he wanted to do all day long was be close to her and protect her.

When he almost lost her to Datamon, he had sworn to protect her from anything. He hadn't told her this promise; he had promised it to himself. And now whenever he saw her smiling and alive because of him, it made him just as happy.

He ran over to her and smiled at her. "What's up?" he asked.

She frowned and her face started to blush a bit. "You know, it's not really important." She said. Tai smiled.

"Sora. Anything you have to say is important to me. You know you can tell me anything." He told her.

She smiled and then took a deep breath. "Ok. I just wanted to tell you something."

Tai smiled hoping she was going to tell him the one thing he wanted to hear. "Of course. You can tell me anything."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that you can tell me if you like Mimi." She said with a frown.

Tai's smile disappeared and he frowned. "What?"

"I see the way you act around her and I just wanted to tell you that you can tell me about it if you want." She said, still frowning.

Tai looked at her funny and shook his head. "Sora, you've got it all wrong. I don't like Mimi." He told her getting a little angry that she'd accuse him of that.

Sora looked like she was getting angry herself. "Don't lie to me Tai. I think I know what I'm seeing. It's fine. I'm not mad or anything."

"I'm not lying to you. And why are you getting mad at me?! I'm not lying! I'm telling you the truth!"

"You know what, forget it Tai. Forget I even asked." She said angrily and started to stomp off.

Tai quickly grabbed her hand. "Don't go. I'm not lying. It's impossible for me to like Mimi." He told her.

She looked at her hand and then at him. "Why is it impossible?" she asked.

"Because I already love you." He told her and took her face in his hands. He leaned in slowly and kissed her.

Tai looked out the window. It had been so simple then. He liked her, she liked him. Sure she had thought he liked Mimi but he didn't and she finally believed him. So how come he was going out with Mimi now? Well that was a bit complicated. After that one kiss, they had been busy saving the world in fight after fight so they hadn't had any time alone. Then when they left the Digital World they had started moving apart. They still talked but not as much.

Then the other day he had called her and she told him that she was going out with Matt on Friday. Matt? Why him? What had they had in the Digital World? Was that all thrown out the window? He just didn't understand it. Why did she have to like Matt? Why was she going out with Matt now?? Why couldn't anything go the right way?

Sora was meeting Mimi at a restaurant down the street. She got there and found Mimi waiting for her. "Hi Mimi." She said, smiling. "What's up? What did you need to talk to me about?" she asked.

Mimi sighed. "Come on. Sit down first." Sora did as she asked and sat down. She was a little confused. Mimi seemed upset or down about something. "Mimi, what's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry Sora!" she yelled.

"Sorry for what?" Sora asked. She was very confused and Mimi's words weren't helping the confusion.

"Sora. Tai called me today." She started.

"Tai? This has to do with Tai?" she said. She thought about Tai and frowned. She had hurt Tai. She had told him she loved him one moment and was now going out with Matt soon. She loved Tai but they had stopped talking. They weren't as close anymore. And she wanted him to be there for her. Not just call her once a month and talk to her in school about nothing. It was as if they were just friends again.

When Matt asked her out, she said yes because she liked Matt a little bit, even if it wasn't as much as she liked Tai. And plus, she didn't want to turn Matt down. She thought that Tai didn't like her anymore and she thought they were done when it came to anything romantic. But then he called her and when she told him he was really upset.

He started yelling at her and asking her why she was going out with Matt. Asking her about what he thought they used to have. She had been confused though because she had thought that he had stopped liking her. So now she was stuck in a date with Matt and she still loved Tai. Why did things have to be so complicated?

She figured she'd go out with Tai and explain the situation with everyone and hope that she didn't hurt Matt too much. That was all she could ask for but her plans seemed a bit messed up now. Why was Tai calling Mimi? And why was Mimi sorry…?

"Yes, it has to do with Tai." Mimi said slowly. "Sora, he asked me out…"

Sora looked at Mimi for a moment. Tai had asked her out??? She thought back to the time that he had told her he loved her. She had been accusing him of liking Mimi. So now he was asking Mimi out to get back at Sora? Or did he really like Mimi??? She remembered Mimi saying sorry to her. "And why are you sorry?"

Mimi put her face in her hands. "I said yes."

Sora was about to get upset. She was going to get up and just leave but then she realized that she couldn't let it get to her. "Well, I'm happy for you two then." She said with a smile.

Mimi took her face out of her hands and looked at Sora. "You're not mad at me? I thought you liked Tai?"

"Mimi, I don't think I told you but I'm going out with Matt on Friday." She told her, pretending that meant she was over Tai.

"Oh." Mimi said and then she smiled. "Well then I'm really glad. I wouldn't have wanted anything to happen to our friendship."

Sora smiled. "Nothing's happened to it. But just out of curiosity, when did you start liking Tai?" she asked.

Mimi frowned. "Well, I didn't really start liking him but when he asked me out I figured I'd give him a chance if he really likes me." She shrugged.

"Oh, ok." Sora said, silently crying on the inside as they finished their lunch in silence.

Mimi was walking home from lunch. She hadn't told Sora about Izzy. She hadn't told anyone that she had liked him. She was glad that Sora was going out with Matt and wouldn't mind if she went out with Tai. That was all she cared about. She didn't want anyone to get hurt because of her. She thought of Izzy quickly but brushed away the thought. He wouldn't get hurt. He was probably over her. Right?


	2. Shaky Goodbyes

UPDATE!!! I already had this written but I didn't have time to upload it until now. Sorry about that to anyone who really likes this. And for those who don't like it, well, I'm sorry that you didn't like it. I hope you give me lots of reviews!!! This chapter is way better then the first one. That was just setting everything up. Hope you enjoy!!!

Disclaimer time! I don't own Digimon. This is purely fan made.

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 2: Shaky Goodbyes

Mimi looked at her empty room and sighed. She was leaving for America in a few days but they needed to finish packing by tomorrow so the movers could get there before they did. She was planning on staying at Sora's her last night here. All the DigiDestined were getting together for one big going away party. She was a bit nervous. For one, she hadn't seen Izzy since they left the Digital World and she was afraid that Tai would want to be close to her now that they were dating.

They had gone out that first time four months ago. They had been out a few times since then but they hadn't kissed or anything. She didn't really think she could make that first move. She didn't really want to kiss anyone other than Izzy… She stopped that thought before it could get any further and shook her head. She hadn't talked to Izzy once since that night in the Digital World. He probably didn't want her anymore anyway. So she figured she'd wait for Tai to make a move and just go with it. The funny thing though, was that he wouldn't make a move either. He would just kinda stare off into space on their dates, the same way she would. If she was going to force herself to love Tai then he needed to do something. Or maybe she did…

Izzy sat at his computer staring at the screen. His computer used to be the one thing he understood and could always count on. Now he wasn't even sure if he could see the screen anymore. All he saw was Mimi and Tai. Together. Tai had told Izzy about it when they had first gone to the movies and Izzy had to swallow all his hurt and sadness to smile at Tai and pretend everything was alright. He hoped Tai wouldn't see through him.

He was also worried about tomorrow night. They were all going to have a goodbye party for Mimi. She was moving to America. He sighed. He'd kept his feelings for her a secret and now she was leaving and he felt like he shouldn't have. Maybe that was why she wanted Tai. He did have the crest of courage after all. He didn't know how he was going to see her and not look upset. Or how he was going to see her and Tai together without wanting to run out of the room. He hadn't talked to her once since that night. She hadn't talked to him. So he didn't really know if he should say anything. He sighed and just looked out the window. When was life going to get easier?

Tai was sitting outside on his balcony. It was raining but he really didn't care. It reflected his mood. He was dating Mimi now since they had been out on more than a few dates in the past four months. She was leaving soon but that wasn't why he was upset. He was upset because Mimi was going to be having a going away party at Sora's with all the DigiDestined. That meant Sora and Mattwould be there. Together. In the same room. That would really help the depression.

He had to make a choice. A choice that would be very hard and both choices were almost the same amount of pain. He could one, make the effort and try to make her jealous at the party tomorrow or he could say goodbye to Sora so that he wouldn't be hurt anymore and she could just be happy with Matt and left alone. The first choice seemed like a good one but he knew it wouldn't work. Plus he'd only be giving Mimi the wrong idea. He'd also be trying to hurt Sora which is something he'd never want or try to do. But the second choice seemed unbearable. Leaving Sora forever? How would he even go about doing that? It would be like cutting off his right hand and throwing it in the ocean. But Sora had more than his right hand. She had his heart. And how could rip that out? He sighed. He knew there was only one thing that would be right.

Sora looked at the time. Mimi would be here any minute. Then they had to get everything ready for the little party. Nothing fancy, just a few friends hanging out. A few friends in a giant love triangle. She sighed. She knew that Matt liked her, though she didn't know how much. He had kissed her on their first date, which made her think he liked her a lot and she felt bad that she liked him but was in love with another. She always kissed him back because kissing him was nice since she did like him. But it was nothing like Tai's kiss. Nothing at all like a kiss with someone you love.

But the love triangle didn't stop there. Matt liked her, she loved Tai, Tai liked Mimi and Mimi didn't really like anyone. But someone did like Mimi, a lot. Izzy. She could tell. Maybe it was a women's intuition but somehow she knew. Maybe it was the way he looked at her when he didn't think anyone was looking. Or the way he hung on everyone word Mimi said. Maybe it wasn't those things at all. Maybe it was that strange night in the Digital World when Mimi went to go get Izzy and they both came back dazed and they never spoke to each other again. Whatever the reason, she knew. But no one else did. No one else had ever guessed but she had. She didn't know how Mimi felt about Izzy but she knew she wasn't too into Tai by the way she talked about them being together.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and she got up to go answer it.

"Hi Mimi! I wasn't sure if you were going to be on time or not." She teased her and laughed.

"Oh Sora, you can't be fashionably late to your own party." She told her with a smile on her face.

Sora picked up one of Mimi's three bags. "Jeez Mimi. How much stuff did you bring for one night?"

Mimi scratched her head. "I thought I packed light…"

Sora laughed and brought her stuff upstairs anyway. "We have an hour before everyone's going to come. I have some chips in the kitchen and some soda in the fridge. I figured we can order a pizza. My mom said she was going to visit my dad in Kyoto since he's away researching there for a little while. That means we have the place to ourselves."

Mimi smiled. "Ok, that's good. But why are you worrying about the food!! We only have an hour! We need to get ourselves ready!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Mimi, this is only a little group of friends hanging out. Why would we need to get ready? I'm already ready." She said, looking down at her clothes. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans with her all too familiar hat on.

"Sora, you really have no interest in fashion. I mean, you look fine and everything but it's just sad that you don't share the same love for fashion that I do." She shook her head but smiled. "But you're probably right. All the people coming have seen me at my worst so I guess it doesn't really matter." She had a cute top on with some tight fitting jeans. A more fashionable form of what Sora was wearing.

"Alright well, let's get this place ready." They set out all the food and drinks in the living room and called for the pizza so that it would be there by dinner time. They had everything ready just in time for the door bell to ring at exactly 5:00 pm on the dot. Sora opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Joe at the door. "Right on time as always Joe." She said with a laugh. Her reliable friend would never be late to anything if he could help it.

"Well I wouldn't want to be late. Is anyone else here?" he asked.

"Hi Joe!" Mimi called from inside. "I'm the only other one here! You're the first to get here."

"Oh, ok." Joe took of his shoes by the door and walked into the living room with Sora. Then a few minutes later the door bell rang again. This time when she opened the door her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't hold back a smile. "Hi Tai." She looked down. "And hi Kari."

Kari looked up and smiled at Sora. "Hello." She said before she took off her shoes and walked ahead of them.

Tai looked at Sora when she said hello and he almost ran out the door. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to deal with what he knew would be his last time seeing Sora. The smile on her face when she saw him just made it that much harder. He didn't want this to be the last night he'd see her beautiful face. The last night he'd hear her amazing voice. The last time for everything it seemed. "Uh, hi Sora." He said quietly and smiled, not being able to hold one back when he saw her face.

He took off his shoes and followed Kari into the living room. Sora stood by the door just looking outside as he walked past her. He turned around and looked at her. She was probably wishing Matt was here or something because she had a sad almost wanting look in her eyes. A want he couldn't give her so he cleared his throat. "You coming, Sora?"

She looked back at him quickly. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. Just staring off into space again."

Tai walked into the living room with Sora behind him. He saw Mimi and Joe there too. "Hey Joe. Hi Mimi." He said and walked over to sit next to Mimi. He figured that was something a girl you were dating would want. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "Hi!"

Tai looked up and caught Sora's face in his view. For a split second, her face was one of agony. Rippling pain on her face as she looked at Mimi and him. He wanted to jump up and run to her. Make everything better. Never make her sad again. But that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted Matt to be here. She wanted Matt to make her feel better. Not him. But in the split second it was there, that face was gone. Turned into a smile as she looked at everyone and pretended everything was ok.

After about 15 minutes, the doorbell rang again. This time Mimi got up to go get it and everyone waited, watching the door to see who it was. Mimi came back into the room pulling TK and Matt along. TK smiled and looked at everyone. "Hi guys! I missed all of you so much!" he exclaimed as he ran around giving out hugs. He ended with Kari and took a seat next to her. Tai was glad that TK and Kari had become such good friends. Both being the same age and the youngest of the DigiDestined, they had bonded quickly.

Then Matt looked at everyone and smiled. "Hey guys. Long time no see for some of you." Then he looked at Sora who was sitting on the couch with an empty spot next to her, smiling up at him. The smile made Tai both happy that she was happy and sick that it wasn't him making her happy. "And hi Sora." he said to her as he sat down next to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Sora blushed slightly and Tai vision went red. He wanted to run out of the room even faster now. But he just clenched his teeth and looked down to hide all emotions.

Mimi didn't have to remember that Izzy wasn't there. She had been waiting the whole time for him. The party had already started an hour ago and he wasn't the type to really be late. Once Matt and TK had gotten there, everyone wondered where Izzy was. Mimi didn't think he was going to come. It was now 6:00 pm and he still wasn't there. The door bell rang and she stood up slowly. "That's probably the pizza guy. You did tell them to come at 6." She reminded Sora and Sora nodded her head.

Mimi walked to the door slowly and a little sad. Although she had been regretting seeing Izzy again, she was now sad that he wasn't there. She must have depended on seeing his face more then she thought. She walked to the door to get the pizza, hoping the boxes wouldn't be too heavy.

She opened the door and her eyes opened wide when she saw a pair of dark brown, almost black eyes looking at her in shock. She saw a flash of dark red hair and a computer strapped to his back and she held in a gasp. It was Izzy. She was so happy that she wanted to jump into his arms and hug him. But she didn't. He looked at the ground once he saw who opened the door. He walked past her without a word or another look, into the living room. Mimi stood by the door just staring out into the rain. A few tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away quickly before turning around and closing the door. He hadn't even said hello.

Izzy had seen the door open to an extremely beautiful and shocked face that he hadn't thought he'd see at the moment, for his face was just as shocked. He didn't know what to say or do so he just walked around her, leaving her in the doorway. He wasn't going to come. He had planned to stay at home and was thinking of things he could tell them. But then he thought about it and figured that if he didn't go tonight, he may never see Mimi again and he didn't want that so he came just to see her face one last time.

He walked into the living room and every greeted him excitedly. Then Tai frowned. "Too bad you weren't the pizza guy though. I'm starving!" he teased and Izzy laughed. "I'm sorry. Next time; I'll bring him with me."

Sora laughed. "Well, I don't think they'll be a next. I mean, how many times can Mimi move to America?" They all laughed at her joke but Izzy just faked a smile and sat down. He would miss her so much…

"Speaking of Mimi, where'd she go? Mimi?? Are you still by the door?" Sora called.

"Sorry! I'll be in, in a minute." She said her voice thick with tears. No one else looked phased by her tone but Sora and Izzy. Sora just looked worried for her friend and Izzy looked mortified. Had he made her cry from ignoring her? Like when they had been in the Digital World? No, that couldn't be. She was probably just sad that this was the last time she'd see her friends for awhile.

Izzy sat quietly throughout the party. He looked over at Mimi occasionally to see her sitting next to Tai. At one point Tai's arm was around her and Izzy wanted to throw up. His stomach kept flipping and turning with every look and he regretted coming here already. The pizza did get there at 6:30. And because it was late they got a discount. Not that that really mattered much to Izzy but he figured it was good for Sora, since she was paying for it.

Finally it was time for everyone to start leaving and Izzy sighed in relief. He was so glad that this silent pain was almost over. He was the first to get up. "Well, my mom told me to be home by 10:00 so I should probably head home." Everyone said their goodbyes to him but he didn't even turn to look at Mimi. He couldn't do it. Saying goodbye just made it all the more real. Made it hurt that much more. So he opened to door to Sora's apartment and stepped outside. He was now on a balcony by the door and he needed to go find the stairs. There was another balcony above this one that served as a roof and shelter from the rain. He stood next to the door and slid to the ground where he was sitting and just looking at the rain. It had been raining for two days now. It added nicely to the mood tonight.

Mimi was going to get up and hug everyone as they left since she was leaving tomorrow. It gave her an excuse to hug Izzy too. Plus she really would miss all of her friends a lot. But when Izzy said goodbye to everyone, he didn't even look at her! It was her _goodbye party _and he didn't even say goodbye! She looked at the ground, silently holding in her tears. This whole party had been the hardest thing ever. She kept looking at Izzy and saw that he looked miserable.

After he left she stood for a moment. She needed to go somewhere to let out the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I need some fresh air." She told them as she walked to the front door and stepped outside. She closed the door behind her and ran to the edge of the balcony and looked over. She looked out across the city and let the tears out. Before she knew it she was sobbing. She couldn't handle it. Why did the one she love hate her so much? It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. Before her sobs got out of control she suddenly felt arms around her.

She turned around and found that it was Izzy who was holding her and shushing her with quiet and soothing shhhh's. Where had he come from? She looked at the door and saw that his bag with his computer in it was sitting next to the door. He had been sitting there? No wonder why she hadn't seen him. She looked at the boy in front of her. In a few months Izzy had grown. He used to be much shorter then Mimi. Now they were about the same height. He had cut his hair since then and he looked a lot older. He was holding her against his chest and resting his chin on her head. She was still crying slightly but she could stop thinking about how much she loved the feel of his arms around her.

She straightened out and looked at his face. He still had his arms around her and their faces were extremely close. "I'm sorry." She told him, not sure if he'd even answer her or not.

Izzy shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Whatever it is, it'd not your fault." He told her.

She smiled but tried not to get too excited. He was talking to her! He actually said something to her! She had wiped away the rest of her tears only to start crying even more.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, alarmed at how her crying had gotten worse when he said something to her.

"Nothing's wrong." She told him.

He tilted his head. "Then why are you crying even more?" he asked.

"Because you spoke to me!" she told him. Her tears were ones of joy.

Izzy put his hands on her shoulders, and pulled her away from him so he could her face. "I really need to go now." He told her. "Goodbye Mimi." He said before quickly letting her go and walking away. He went around the corner, giving her one last look before he was gone. She looked in the direction he had walked off and tears silently streamed down her face. At least he had talked to her. That made things better, right? But it also only gave her more of a reason to miss him, and with that thought, the tears started streaming even faster.

Sora had seen almost everything that night. She had been watching Izzy. He looked really upset. And he kept looking at Mimi. Sora had guessed right, that was for sure. She watched him leave without even looking at Mimi and then she started to worry. That was pretty harsh. She watched Mimi go outside and then she sighed. There wasn't anything she could do for them.

Mimi came back in the room, her eyes red and puffy. Sora could tell she had been crying. Everyone else looked up at her in question and Tai asked her what was wrong. "Oh, nothing." She told them. "I was just thinking about how I'm not going to see any of you for so long and I'm going to miss you all so much! Now that Izzy left, there's only 6 of you left and then you'll all be gone." She told them sadly. Sora raised an eyebrow at her but let it go. If Mimi didn't want to say anything, she didn't have to.

Tai watched as slowly everyone left. Izzy was first and then Joe, saying that he had a test tomorrow that was very important. He still didn't know who took tests on Saturdays but didn't ask. Matt and TK then left and Tai watched sadly as Matt kissed Sora goodbye. It made him cringe. Once they left he realized that it was time. Time for him to say goodbye to Sora, forever. The thought hurt him more than Matt's kisses did. But he knew it was best. For both of them. He stood up and looked at Kari who was falling asleep on the couch. It was only 10:00 but that was late for Kari so he pulled her into his arms and she was asleep in moments. "Well, I should head home now." He looked down at Kari and they understood.

Sora stood up. "I'll walk you out." She told him. He nodded and walked over to Mimi. "I'll talk to you on the phone tomorrow. Don't forget to call." He told her and she nodded. "I won't." She stood up and gave him a hug before he walked towards the door with Kari in his arms and Sora beside him. They got outside and Sora smiled. "It's nice and cool out here. It was getting stuffy in there." She told him and he nodded. He looked at Sora face and knew this was the moment. The moment he was ripping out his heart and placing it under her foot to stomp on.

"Sora, I don't think we should really talk anymore." He told her and her head suddenly snapped up and she was looking at him with horror in her eyes. "What? What are you trying to say?" she asked, her voice slightly panicked.

"I'm just saying it'd be best for both of us." He said, looking down as he prepared to say those last and final words that would seal the deal and his heart forever. "I hope you remain happy. Goodbye Sora." He said as he turned around and walked around the corner. He looked down at his chest. It looked the same on the outside. But it would never be the same on the inside…


	3. Operation Tofu

3rd Chapter!!!! YAY!!! I do love updating this! Well, you know the drill; I don't own Digimon and REVIEW!!!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 3: Operation Tofu

So how does one live without a heart? It seems impossible and unbearable. But if your heart is taken from you, then you have no choice, and you live with it. Izzy had no choice. He was living with what he was handed, even though it wasn't a fair hand. He couldn't think of one thing he could've done differently. He was intelligent, but he couldn't quite grasp what he should've done. He never once thought about confronting Mimi after they left the Digital World. Something he should've done. He wasn't dealing well with what happened to him either. He stopped talking to people. He gave up on mankind. He just couldn't deal with others. All of his friends didn't help him. Tai was the one who had caused most of his pain. Why would he go to him? Izzy wasn't mad at Tai or anything, but he'd rather not be around him. Mimi was out of the question, Sora seemed to her own problems and Matt was too happy. He only ever talked about Sora and him and that wasn't something Izzy needed to hear right now. He didn't enjoy others love because it made him think of his own and how he couldn't have her. That left Joe, but they were never close and Joe was always busy. TK and Kari weren't old enough to understand his problems and plus it seemed that they too would have a love in their little lives soon. So that left no one.

Tai's problem was even worse. You see, his heart hadn't been taken from him. He had taken it out himself. And the temptation to have it back was always right under his nose. If he was to just talk to Sora, his heart would return. But he chose to throw it away, for her. He knew that the best way for her to be happy, was to forget about Tai. If she had remained close to him, she'd only see his sadness and feel bad for him. She'd also be sad that she caused the sadness. So he lived in an empty, trance-like state most of the time. He didn't ever think to bother others with his problems. Mimi was a good girlfriend, and he knew that he should break up with her since the only reason he dated her was to get back at Sora, but he liked her company, even if it was just over the phone. Although he'd never see her in a romantic way, he'd always see her as a good friend. And he didn't want to lose the only friend he had left. Matt, Sora, and Izzy had been his only other good friends, and now he lost Matt and Sora and Izzy never wanted to talk to him anymore. It was the weirdest thing.

Mimi was alone too. She lived in America now, and she had new friends, but she missed her old ones. But most of all, she missed Izzy. She realized that she was most likely in love with him and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to break up with Tai, but for now, all their relationship was, was a good friendship. So until he started getting the wrong idea, she didn't see a need to. It wasn't like she even lived in Japan so it didn't matter. She cried herself to sleep every night and moped around all day long. She wasn't in a good state. Her parents just thought it was because she missed Japan and that's what she told them it was. But it was much more than that. In school she pretended to be happy and made sure no one could tell that she was dying on the inside. She just wondered when she'd see Izzy again. Until that day, she swore to never stop loving him. No matter what.

Sora wasn't any better than the rest of the participants in this large love triangle. She was with Matt and all she wanted was Tai. Matt was starting too really like her and it only upset her more. She was ready to pull her hair out. She wanted to be with Tai more than anything in life and he didn't want to talk to her anymore. He refused to pick up the phone. And whenever she tried to talk to him in school, he'd just run away when he saw her coming towards him, so she stopped trying. She felt depressed and things weren't getting any better. Matt was starting to pressure her into doing things with him that she didn't want to do. She told him that she wasn't ready for that and that she wouldn't be ready for that for a long time and he just nodded and never tried anything again.

*Three Years Later*

Things with the DigiDestined weren't good. They hadn't been for the past few years. Joe wasn't blind to everyone's misery. He could see that everyone was having a hard time as the years were going on. Their group was falling apart. TK and Kari were older now and they were even part of a new group of DigiDestined. He had helped them out one time when Gomamon had been in trouble. He had also helped Cody, one of the new DigiDestined, save the others when he found the DigiEgg of Reliability. He decided that something needed to be done about the old Digidestined, and he'd need the help of the new DigiDestined to do it. He called up TK and told him that they all needed to meet. TK didn't know what it was about, but Kari, who was with him at the time, knew. She had seen how her brother had been acting the past three years and knew that something needed to be done.

He told them to meet at a park near his apartment. It'd be easier for him to get there. He got there late and ran to the park where he already saw Kari, TK, Davis, Cody, Ken and Yolei. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late." Joe told them all, out of breath.

Yolei smiled. "It's ok Joe. What's up? Why did you need our help?" she asked. Joe just frowned and sat on a bench.

"It's about the old DigiDestined…" was all he said and the rest of the kids understood.

"Something really needs to be done." Ken said and stood up. "I've noticed the way they act with each other. I just thought they've always been like that."

Joe shook his head. "No. They were never like that. We used to all be really close. As close, if not closer, than you guys are now."

Ken looked up in shook. "Really?? I know that I haven't been a part of the team that long, but the way this team works together still amazes me. If you're saying that you guys were even closer…" he trailed off.

TK stood up. "The team was a lot different than this one. We go to the Digital World when we want and we're all friends but…the eight of us were stuck in the Digital World. We all saw each other's true colors and became extremely close. We looked out for each other and worked together for everything. We were so close that a lot of fights even broke out, but it's those fights, and the way they were resolved, that we all grew even closer. It's hard to explain the bond that the eight of us shared." He explained.

Davis looked a little red when TK explained his bond to Kari but soon forgot about it when he looked over at Joe. "Wait, so what happened? And what can we do to help?" he asked.

Joe sighed. "That's the problem. I don't know what happened. We need to find out. But it has to do with Tai, Sora, Mimi, and Izzy. I don't think Matt has any harsh or sad feelings about anyone. What do you think TK?"

TK shook his head. "I don't think so. He doesn't seem to have any problems. He's happy about his band and being with Sora. Nothing bothering him that I know of." He told Joe.

Joe nodded. "Ok, then we need to find out what's wrong with Tai, Sora, Mimi, and Izzy. I think we should spit up into groups that think they can get the closest to these people."

"I want to find out what's wrong with Tai." Kari said quickly, determined.

Joe shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. If he hasn't told you what's wrong yet, then he won't. I think Davis and Cody should find out what's wrong with Tai."

"Why?" Kari asked, a little pissed.

"Because, Davis is a lot like Tai and Cody is more understanding. So Cody could figure out what's wrong while Davis can understand it. Plus he'd be more likely to tell Davis anyway." He explained and Kari crossed her arms but didn't say anything, knowing Joe was right. "Besides, I think you and TK should find out what's wrong with Sora." He told her.

Davis jumped up. "Why!? Kari can help me! Cody can go with TS!" he yelled.

"It's TK." TK mumbled and then Joe began to explain. "Davis, Sora is more likely to talk if another girl is there. Plus TK and Kari both looked up to Sora as a motherly figure back in the Digital World. Sora is the suffer-in-silence type, and it's going to take someone that she has a really good bond with to make her open up." He explained.

Davis just crossed his arms like Kari had done before and sat back down, clearly defeated. Yolei and Ken looked at each other and then at Joe. "What about us?" Yolei asked.

"Well, I think I should talk to Izzy. He's the hardest person to get through and I think that if someone he didn't know as well came with me, then he'd keep quiet. I think you two should talk to Mimi. I know you and Mimi are alike Yolei and Ken; you need to be there so that you can be the brains behind Yolei. No offense Yolei but you're more of the rush in without thinking type and Ken tends to plan more." He told her and laughed when she got the same look on her face as Kari and Davis had. It seemed like every group had one unhappy person. But it was the only way this was going to work. If the groups switched up, they might not get to the bottom of things.

TK looked at Joe after a moment. "Ok, so we have our groups but how are we going to get to the bottom of this? I mean, we can't just walk in and say, hey what's wrong? We're not therapists or anything. How are we going to find out what's wrong?" He asked.

Joe smiled. "Well, I had an idea about that. I figured that the problem must be with someone else in the group. So we can just ask about the other old team members and see their reaction. It wouldn't be easy to hide something so big that it's ripping the group apart. That would be hard to cover up." He explained.

Kari smiled. "Oh I see. So we'll just ask things like, 'so, have you talked to Tai lately?' Stuff like that, right?"

"Exactly!" Joe exclaimed.

Cody spoke up for the first time that night. "I have an idea." He told them, looking down at Upamon. Everyone looked over at him to listen to what he had to say. "We should get their Digimon Partners to come with us." He said and Joe smiled.

"That's a great idea! They'll open up if their partners are there! That's for sure!" He said.

TK laughed. "And I'm sure you'd love to see Gomamon too." He chuckled.

"Well, maybe, but still, Agumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, and Palmon can help us a lot."

The Digimon, who had been pretty quiet throughout the whole meeting, spoke up. "What about Gabumon?" Patamon asked. "I mean, we can't just leave him if everyone else is coming home. And what do we tell Matt when we bring Gabumon here?" he asked.

Gatomon looked up at the others and yawned. "It's very simple. All we have to do is tell them that they're here for Christmas. Isn't that holiday coming soon?" she asked and Kari smiled.

"That's a great idea! It's a nice present too!" she exclaimed and laughed. "Plus it'll give us a reason to go visit them. We can say that we came over to specially deliver their "presents"." She laughed.

Joe smiled. "That's a great idea. I knew you guys could help me!" He sighed. "I just miss how it was in the old days."

TK and Kari sighed too. "Me too." They both said at the same time.

Davis put DemiVeemon on his head and stood up. "Alright then! Let's make it like the old times!!" he exclaimed. Then he put a thoughtful look on his face and turned towards the others. "So what are we going to call this?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Ken asked.

Davis sighed. "Every cool secret spy-like mission has to have an awesome code name!" he exclaimed. Everyone just looked at Davis and chuckled. He wasn't a very serious person for long.

DemiVeemon jumped up and down on Davis's head. "Oh boy, oh boy! I hope your house has lots of snacks Kari!!!" he yelled, thinking about all the chocolate he was capable of consuming.

Kari laughed at the cute little Digimon. "Sorry DemiVeemon, my mom tries to stay healthy so the tastiest thing in my house is tofu." She told him.

Davis jumped up, knocking DemiVeemon off his head. "That's it! Operation Tofu!" DemiVeemon jumped back on Davis's head. "Yeah! Operation Tofu!" he yelled.

The others laughed and then they all shrugged, yelling "Operation Tofu!" into the late night air.

Everyone got a job. Ken and Yolei had to find a way to make Mimi fly out to Japan. Yolei begged her to come shopping with her, telling her that she needed something to wear to a Christmas party and that Mimi was the only person she knew that could help her. Mimi, not being able to turn that down, agreed to come. Joe broke his computer on purpose and then called Izzy up, telling him that he needed to come over and fix his computer on Christmas because it was the only day he was home. He told him he needed to write a term paper and if he didn't write it, he'd fail that class. Davis and Cody didn't really have a job but they did need to make sure everything was kept a secret. TK and Kari were in charge of going to the Digital World to get the other Digimon and tell them what was going on with the older DigiDestined. They also had to inform them about Operation Tofu. Kari went over to TK's house to get him so they could go to the Digital World together that Saturday.

"Hello Kari!" TK's mom answered the door.

"Hello. Is TK here?" she asked.

TK's mom had a big smile on her face as she looked at Kari and nodded. "Yes, he's here. Why don't you come inside? He's taking a shower but he should be almost done." She told her. Kari smiled and walked into the apartment. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Is there anything I can get you?" Ms. Takaishi asked.

"No thank you. I'm fine." Kari told her with a warm smile. Ms. Takaishi smiled and sat down at the table with Kari. Ms. Takaishi had an almost too friendly smile on and Kari was a little nervous about what she was going to say to her.

"So Kari, you and TK have been pretty good friends for awhile, right?" she asked. Kari nodded slowly. "So…have you ever thought that maybe you like him more than a friend?" she asked and Kari nearly feel over in shock at what Ms. Takaishi was asking her.

"Uhh." Was all she could get out and Ms. Takaishi looked over at her. "You can tell me. I won't tell him." She told Kari and just then Kari heard the bathroom door open and sighed in relief. Saved by TK. She looked over to the hallway that TK would be walking out of. TK walked in the room with nothing but a towel on and Kari felt her face heat up.

"Hey mom, have you seen my hat? I've been-" he was cut off when he saw who else was sitting in his kitchen. Kari watched as his face turned bright red and he walked out of the room saying, "Never mind."

Ms. Takaishi was laughing during the whole thing. When TK left the room she just stood up and looked at Kari. "I guess that answers my question." She said before walking out of the room into her study. Kari tried to say something about her comment but nothing came out of her open mouth. TK came into the room, this time with clothes on, before she could close her gaping mouth. She looked up at him and smiled. "Uh, you ready to go now?" she asked and he nodded slowly.

They got outside and he looked at her. "So what computer do you want to use?"

She thought for a moment and then looked at him. "We can use the school's computer. It always seems like the easiest place to go." He nodded.

They walked to the school in silence, still recuperating from the extremely awkward moment at TK's. They got there and went into the computer lab. TK looked at Kari and smiled, waving his hand towards the computer. "Do the honors." Kari smiled and pointed her D3 at the screen. In a matter of moments, they were in the Digital World. Gatomon and Patamon had gone back to the Digital World a few nights before, along with the other DigiDestined's Partners so that they could round up Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Palmon, and Biyomon.

Kari looked over at TK and frowned. "Where are they? Didn't we tell them to meet us here?" she asked.

"This was the place." TK told her. Suddenly something hit TK in the face and he fell to the ground. Kari looked at him worriedly but then laughed when she saw Patamon holding on to TK's face. "TK!" Patamon exclaimed and TK started laughing too. "Jeez, you couldn't have just walked out here?" He told him and Patamon started laughing with him.

Gatomon ran out of the woods next and Kari held out her arms for her. "Gatomon!" she exclaimed as her small cat-like Digimon jumped into her arms. "Kari! We found them. Me and Patamon just started to run a little faster than them once we heard you and TK's voices." She told Kari and Kari laughed. "I've missed you too! And it's only been a few days!" Gatomon and laughed and hugged Kari.

The others ran out then and surrounded Kari and TK. Hawkmon was the first to talk though. "I believe you and TK should tell them what's going on now." TK and Kari nodded.

Kari sat down on the ground and TK soon followed. This was going to take awhile. They explained to them everything they talked about the other night, telling all the details of Operation Tofu. They all took a guess at who named it and Veemon just laughed when they guessed right. When they finished explaining the others Digimon looked worried about their partners. They wanted to get to their partners as fast as possible but Kari explained to them that they had to wait until Christmas and they all agreed reluctantly. They went back to Tokyo and they had to figure out who would take the Digimon until Christmas, which was only three days away. Christmas Eve was tomorrow. TK agreed that he needed to take Biyomon because if Tai saw Biyomon he'd get suspicious. They decided they'd drop off Agumon at Davis's since he could probably hide him better then Cody who would be busy with Kendo Practice. Tentomon would go home with Gomamon to Joe's and Palmon would go to Yolei's since Mimi would be staying there anyway. Gabumon would go home with TK also and he'd just give him to Matt when he came over for Christmas Eve to visit TK and his mother, which was something he began doing since they left the Digital World. Something must have clicked in Matt's mind about his mother once there because he visited all the time now.

With all the planning out of the way, they went around and dropped off the Digimon at everyone's houses. And TK brought home Biyomon, Gabumon and Patamon that night.

The next morning TK woke up to three Digimon sitting on top of him. Gabumon was yelling in TK's ear and TK jumped up and fell out of his bed. He looked up at Gabumon and rubbed his eyes. "What? What was that for?" he asked. He hadn't really understood whatever Gabumon had been yelling in his ear.

Gabumon smiled and looked at TK on the floor. "I told you to wake up and I asked when Matt was coming over." He told TK. TK rubbed his back where he had hit it when he fell on the floor. "Uh, I don't know, 2:00?" he told him. They all looked over at the clock. It was 11:00 am. "Wow, you sleep late." Biyomon commented and Patamon laughed. "He always does on weekends." They all laughed and TK stood up.

"I'm going to go get something to eat. Patamon can come since my mom knows about him but you two should stay in here. We'll bring you guys back some food." He told them and then he opened his door and closed it before walking into the kitchen. His mom was sitting at the table reading the paper. "Morning mom." He told her and she looked up at him and smiled. "Good morning. And good morning Patamon." She said with a smile before going back to her paper. TK sat down with a bowl of cereal and Patamon grabbed some fruit. They ate quickly and then he stood up. "I'm going to go get ready. I need to take a shower. And this time if someone comes, I don't care who, but if someone comes while I'm in there, would you mind telling me?" He told her and she began to laugh. "Ok TK. Don't worry, I'll warn you this time." She told him and he left the room with Patamon and a bowl of fruit. He walked into his bedroom and saw Biyomon and Gabumon sitting on his bed. He handed them the fruit and smiled. "There you go. Now I'm gonna go take a shower, but one more thing. Matt can't see you Biyomon."

Biyomon had just stuffed an apple into her mouth so she chewed quickly and then looked at TK. "Why?" she asked.

"Because we don't want Matt to know about Operation Tofu since it doesn't seem like he has any problems with anyone else and he might want to help us but if someone else has a problem with him, then we won't be able to find that out with him there. We want to fix the problem, not make it worse." He told her and she nodded.

"Ok, but what if he comes in the room?" she asked.

"Hide in my closet. I don't know, get creative." He told her and then walked off into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and then walked right into his room when he was done this time. He got his clothes and brought them in the bathroom where he got dressed quickly. He walked into the kitchen with the empty bowl that once held a lot in fruit. He put that in the sink and then the door bell rang. He walked to the door and saw Matt's face as he opened it. "Matt!" he exclaimed. And Matt hugged him. "Merry Christmas bro. Where's mom?" he asked and their mom ran into the room. "Hi Matt!" she said and quickly gave him a kiss. "Come in!" she pulled him inside and they all walked into the living room. "I'm really sorry but I need to finish a paper for work, but I'll be done in an hour or so. You and TK can hang out while I work." She told them with a smile.

Matt nodded in understanding and smiled at TK. "Where's Patamon?" he asked, looking at TK's head, where Patamon usually was.

"He's in my room. Wait right here a minute. I have a surprise for you. It's for Christmas." He told him and then ran to his bedroom. Patamon jumped on TK's head when he walked in the room and he grabbed Gabumon's hand. "Come on. Matt's here." He told him and he ran out of the room ahead of TK. TK laughed and ran after him. They both ran into the living room and Gabumon jumped into Matt's arms. Matt was laughing the moment he saw Gabumon and then began hugging him back.

"TK! This is the best Christmas present ever! Thank you!" he exclaimed and let go of Gabumon to hug TK.

TK smiled at him and hugged him back. "Merry Christmas bro."

***

That chapter turned out longer than I thought it would. They keep getting longer! Oh well, I guess that's a good thing. Once I start typing it's like I can't stop!

Well, I hope you like it so far!!!! I'm trying really hard to make this as good as possible!! I enjoyed writing this so much that I _might_ be able to update this tomorrow. No promises but it's looking good so far. Well, be sure to review!


	4. Tai’s Missing Heart

I told you I'd try really hard to get this done today but I think this is taking longer than that. So sorry for making you wait but I'm trying! I really hope your liking this so far! I'm enjoying writing this, that's for sure. Ok so, I don't own Digimon and please REVIEW!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 4: Tai's Missing Heart

Davis sat in his living room waiting for Kari to bring Agumon over. He had to take care of him and provide him a place to stay until Christmas. He was excited that Kari was coming over, even if only for a moment. He was a little frustrated though. He really liked Kari but it looked like she liked TK. TK wasn't a bad guy or anything but he was taking his girl! That crossed the line!

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted when the door bell rang. He stood up and answered it. He smiled when he saw Kari and TK at the door.

"Hey guys! Where's Agumon?" he asked. They moved out of the way and he saw Agumon walk in slowly. "Hi Davis." He said and Davis smiled down at him.

"Hey Agumon. I bet you can't wait to see Tai. Plus he really does need you." He told him and Agumon nodded. He had a worried look on his face and Davis looked at Kari and TK in worry. They both gave him the same look back and then picked up their Digimon. "The others are waiting in the bushes down stairs. We should go." Kari said and Davis nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you later." He said with a smile and Kari smiled back before her and TK both turned around and walked away. He closed the door and turned to Agumon. "Come on. You need to get in my room before my parents get home." Agumon followed him into his room and sat on Davis's bed.

"Hey Davis, is Tai really doing that badly?" he asked and Davis sighed. "Agumon, don't worry, we're going to find out what's wrong with him and we're going to fix it." He told him, determined.

It was pretty late when Davis decided to go to sleep. He had been lying in bed looking up at the ceiling. DemiVeemon and Agumon were already asleep and had been for awhile. They needed to find out what was wrong with Tai. And they needed to do it before it was too late.

Cody sat on his bed. It was Christmas Eve and tomorrow, he and Davis were going to Tai's house. Upamon was sleeping already and Cody looked over at him and smiled. He was so still when he slept. He had eaten an entire apple pie that night before going to sleep. It was amazing how much could fit into his little body. He could eat and eat and never get full. It was amazing. Cody closed his eyes and before he knew it, it was morning. He had to go get Davis and Agumon and then they were heading over to Tai's. He got up and got dressed then he grabbed Upamon and ran out the door. He got to Davis's apartment quickly and once he was there he knocked on the door.

"Hey Cody." Answered a sleepy Davis. He was dressed and ready but it looked like he had just woken up. Cody looked behind him and saw Agumon getting into a large box. Cody looked at the box and then at Davis. Davis yawned and then gave him a big smile. "I had an idea for transportation." He told him and Cody groaned.

"We have to carry him?" he asked and Davis nodded with a huge smile.

"It won't be too hard." He assured him with another smile.

"Sure it won't." Cody complained but walked inside to pick the box up anyway. They walked to Tai's and by the time they got there Cody couldn't feel his arms anymore. He looked over at Davis who was looking at his arms like he couldn't feel them either.

"Won't be too hard, huh." He mumbled and Davis frowned.

"Ok, so I was a little wrong. Sue me."

"I'll be sure to when my arms fall off." Cody grumbled.

"Calm down. We're here. We just need to get to the elevator now." They walked over to the elevator and found a sign. 'OUT OF ORDER'

Cody just looked over at Davis and Davis laughed nervously. "Umm, he's only on the eighth floor." He said slowly and Cody just sighed and walked over to the box. "Then let's go." He said, unenthusiastically.

Tai was sitting on the floor in his room. Kari walked into his room and looked at him funny. He looked up at her. "What?" he asked. She just shook her head and mumbled. "Nothing." Then she picked up her shoes and told him she was going out. He nodded numbly and watched her leave before going back to staring at the ceiling. A few minutes later, someone was knocking on the door. He stood up and went to the door. He opened it and found an extremely exhausted Davis and Cody. They smiled up at him and he looked at them in question.

"Hey guys. Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked and they smiled.

Davis was the first to talk though. "We came to give you a Christmas present from all the new DigiDestined!" he said happily. Tai looked behind them at a huge box. He smiled and then looked at them. "You didn't have to get me anything." He told them and Cody laughed.

"Tai, you're the leader of all the DigiDestined. You didn't think you were going to get a present from us?" Cody asked and Tai smiled. It was nice that some people really did appreciate him. He looked at the box and his smile grew. "Ok, well what is it?" he asked.

Davis smiled and pushed the box into the apartment and then waved his hand towards it. "Well go ahead." He told Tai. Tai opened up the box and his smile widened the moment he saw what was in it.

"Agumon!"

Agumon jumped out of the box and into Tai's arms. Tai hugged Agumon tightly. He was so glad he was here. He needed a friend, badly. Now he had someone to turn to and he was right at home with him. He couldn't have been happier in that moment. He let go of Agumon and looked up at Davis and Cody. "Thanks guys. This was really nice of you guys. And Kari knew about this?" he asked. They laughed and Cody nodded. "Wow. She's better at keeping secrets then I am, that's for sure." They all laughed and went into Tai's room.

Tai turned and looked out the window for a moment and then looked back at the others. Davis was the first to talk. "We haven't seen you in a little while, Tai. We haven't seen any of the old DigiDestined in awhile. We should all meet up one day. All twelve of us." He said with a smile. The thought of all the DigiDestined together made Tai sick. Matt and Sora would be in that group of people. He tried to hide how he froze up at the thought and then smiled. "Yeah, that would be awesome. All of us…together again." He said looking at the wall. "Just…like…old times." He said slowly.

Davis looked at Tai funny and Tai smiled wider to try to hide his discomfort at the thought. Cody looked at Davis and Tai burrowed his brow. He didn't like that look. He shook it off though and just forgot about it.

"So, are you and Mimi still dating? Or talking since she's all the way in America." Cody said. Tai nodded. "Yep. We talk on the phone all the time." He sighed. "I don't know if I really like Mimi that way but she's a really good friend and I'd hate to lose her as a friend, so until she gets the wrong idea I don't really see a need to break up with her, you know?" Davis nodded and looked at Cody again. Tai didn't like those looks. He pretended to look out the window and out of the corner of his eye he saw Cody shake his head about something to Davis.

"You and Sora are really close too right? I'm surprised that doesn't bother Mimi. Then again Mimi and Sora are good friends so Mimi trusts her." Cody said and Tai clenched his fists. He knew something was up, though he didn't know what.

"No. Me and Sora aren't friends anymore." He said quickly, staring out the window. Davis and Cody looked a little surprised but it was Agumon who was just plain shocked. "What?" Agumon said in confusion. "Tai, what's going on? You and Sora were best friends! And you loved her! She loved you too! I saw you two kiss! Doesn't that mean something to humans? I am really confused and really worried about you Tai. What happened?" He said seriously. Davis and Cody looked shocked by his outburst and Tai turned around slowly, looking into Agumon's determined eyes.

Just then Tai's stupid emotions had to kick in and a tear feel down his cheek. Davis and Cody looked up at Tai in time to catch the tear on his face and the look of surprise on their face turned to true pity. That was the one emotion Tai hated. "What are you looking at me like that for?!" he yelled at them as more tears fell from his eyes. He looked out the window to try and stop the tears but they wouldn't stop. Agumon sat next to him with an arm around him, quietly waiting for Tai to be finished. Davis and Cody looked at Agumon and Tai, waiting until someone spoke. Finally the tears stop and Tai wiped them away. He hadn't cried since his heart had gone missing from his chest and it seemed like he had needed to let it out.

Davis stood up and put a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Tai, you can tell us what happened. We won't tell anyone. We want to help you. What's wrong?" He said calmly. Tai was a little surprised at how compassionate Davis was being. It wasn't like him at all. Then again, he knew that Davis looked up to him so to see him break down like that must have been hard to watch. Tai turned around and looked at Davis. Then he looked over at Cody and he was still unsure. Then he looked over at Agumon. Agumon was watching him intently and had a look of true worry and sadness for Tai. One thing though that amazed Tai was that Agumon had no pity on his face. Not a trace of pity. Tai smiled at his one and only best friend and took a deep breath. Maybe it'd feel good to talk about it. His eyes welled up with tears again when he was about to talk and he sighed. Maybe not. But either way, he was determined to tell his story.

"Agumon, you already know about what happened in the Digital World but Davis and Cody don't, so I should start there. In the Digital World, me and Sora started out being best friends. We had known each other before we went to camp that summer from playing soccer together. I didn't like her then but I started to have feelings for her once we were in the Digital World. She pulled me aside one day and asked me if I liked Mimi. I was shocked because I liked her, not Mimi. But she didn't believe me when I told her I didn't like Mimi so I told her that I loved her and that was why I couldn't like Mimi. That was the day Agumon was talking about because him and Biyomon were there when I told her that and then we kissed. But we never got another moment alone. We were busy running from fight to fight every day. Then when we got home, things changed. We talked in school but about nothing in particular. I called her from time to time but it was clear that we were becoming distant.

"Then one day I called her and she told me she was going out with Matt. I didn't know that she had stopped liking me and started liking Matt. I didn't think that everything that happened was lost. Well anyway, to make a long story short, I over reacted and started yelling at her. She got really quiet. Normally Sora's the type of girl to start yelling back but she just remained quiet and then told me calmly that she had to go and hung up. So I was really upset and thinking about what she had accused me of in the Digital World. I was feeling a bit childish so I called up Mimi and asked her out. I already told you how I feel about that and for some reason I think she feels the same. You see, we never kissed or anything on any of our dates. We'd both stay quiet and just stare off into space a lot. I don't know what she was thinking about, but I was thinking about Sora the whole time. We're just really good friends, is all.

"But that's not even the biggest thing…" he said and Davis, Cody, and Agumon remained silent. "I thought it would be best if I stopped talking to her. She would know that I was upset and then she'd just pity me or feel bad that she caused the sadness and I wouldn't ever want her to feel bad for me or be sad because of me so I thought I could take myself out of her life and she could just be happy with Matt. I don't blame her for anything. It's not her fault. I just thought I'd make life easier for her. And that's it. That's everything. I ripped out my own heart and threw it into a shredder-" He shrugged. "-for her." He finished and looked out the window again. He didn't want to look at his friends just yet.

Davis looked at Tai for a long time when he finished talking. He had tears in his eyes for Tai. He couldn't even understand the pain Tai was going through. He was a broken man and it was a sad sight. He looked at Cody and he had the same, sad, worried, and holy-crap-what-are-we-going-to-do face on. Davis stood up and everyone looked up at him. No one had moved for about ten minutes so the sudden movement surprised them all. Tai looked at Davis and when tears spilled out of Davis's eyes, he looked a bit shocked. "Tai. You need to talk to her." He said quietly.

Tai stood up to say something but Davis held up a hand to him and shook his head. "Look, by you leaving her and not talking to her, you're hurting her too. Even if you don't know how she feels about you, you know that she loves you as a friend and it must have hurt when you stopped talking to her. How did she react when you told her you weren't going to talk to her anymore?" he asked and Tai looked down at the ground.

"She freaked out." He said quietly and Davis looked at him with an I-thought-so face. "See? She was hurt. You're hurting her more than if you stuck around. Besides, you should look out for yourself. You're too brave for your own good. I know you see for yourself what this is doing to you. Talk to her before it's too late." He said, looking at the floor.

Agumon stood up and looked at Tai. "I agree. You need to talk to her. Think about yourself for once." He said quietly.

Cody and Upamon looked around at everyone else who was standing and slowly stood too. Then Cody looked at Tai. "I think she'd be glad to hear from you." Tai looked at them all and smiled. "You guys are right, aren't you?" He said. Davis smiled and nodded. Tai sighed. "I really hate it when that happens." He chuckled. "I'll think about it. I just need to get my head straight. Maybe you guys should leave. I have a ton of stuff to do today. It_ is_ Christmas." He told them and smiled. "And thanks. You guys are true friends." Davis smiled and picked up DemiVeemon. "Anytime Tai."

Davis and Cody began to leave and Tai came with them to the door. "Oh and by the way, tell Kari I said thanks too. I know she had to have something to do with this." Davis smiled. "What are you talking about? You don't think I could think of something this good?" Tai just rolled his eyes and closed the door of his apartment. They began to walk down the stairs and Davis looked over at Cody. "That went well." He commented.

Cody looked at him for a moment and smiled. "You know, you're a lot more compassionate than I thought. I guess it's just when you choose to be." He said with a chuckle.

Davis laughed. "Yeah. It depends on my mood." He told him and Cody laughed too.

"I hope the others get information like we did." Cody said in a hopeful tone.

"I'm sure they will. I have faith in Kari, TK, Joe, Ken and Yolei." He said with a smile.

"Maybe we should call Joe and tell him we did it." Cody suggested.

Davis nodded. "He wasn't meeting Izzy until around dinner time anyway so he's not even going to be over there." He assured Cody and Cody nodded, taking out his phone. He dialed quickly and then began filling Joe in. He didn't tell him too many details, just that they did it and not to worry about them getting to information. Joe said he was going to tell the others to meet again at the same park to talk about the information that they got from the others. Cody told Davis all this as Joe said it and Davis nodded. He was ready to help Tai. He hoped Sora felt the same way about Tai because then things could be fixed easily.

Tai sat on his bed with Agumon thinking about what Davis and Cody told him. They were right but how would he get himself to talk to Sora? It had been so long that it would seem like something was up. He decided that he'd go up to her in school and talk to her a little one day. Just a few words and then slowly get close to her again. That could work. He hoped that he wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable. He hoped that them being friends again could at least return his heart, even if it would be all broken…

***

YES!!! I DID IT!!! I finished it on the day I promised I would!!! Even though it's 11:58 pm and I'm really tired, I still did it!!! Just like I told you I would. What I said above doesn't matter anymore because I did it! I feel accomplished. Well anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!! I really love reviews and staying up so late and finishing this for anyone who's reading this was hard so you should review!


	5. TK’s Confusion

I've decided that I'm going to comment on all the reviews I get here. So if you have any questions or you just want to tell me something, please review! I love reviews!!!

KoumiLoccness - Thank you so much! You've reviewed all of my chapters and I'm really glad you like them. I agree with you about the Sora pairings too. Well anyways, please continue reading and reviewing and thanks so much for the first review I've ever gotten. Made me feel good. Haha.

Lord Pata – Thanks! I put that bonding because in a lot of fanfics the Digimon aren't even in them. They always get forgotten and I didn't want to do that, so thanks for noticing.

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. That's it. I'm not going to ramble on about this. Wait, I just did. Darn it.

Ok well…read!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 5: TK's Confusion

TK walked to the same park that all the DigiDestined had met Joe at a few days ago. He was supposed to meet Kari there. He sat down on a bench with Patamon and Biyomon with him. Biyomon was sitting on the ground looking more like a doll then a living creature. Patamon sat on TK's head looking quite comfortable. TK sighed and looked around for her. Suddenly he saw a small cat running far away and Patamon stood up on his head. It got closer but just turned out to be a normal cat, not a Digimon. Suddenly someone came up behind TK and put their hands over his eyes. TK laughed. "I know it's you Kari." He told her. Suddenly the hands disappeared and he looked behind him, smiling.

But it wasn't Kari he saw. It was Jun, Davis's sister. She was looking a little sad. "Oh, uh, hey Jun. Sorry I just thought that…I…" he didn't really know what to say to her. She smiled at him. "No, it's fine. I get it. You like her don't you." She asked, smiling. TK looked at her with wide eyes. "Wha…what? What makes you say that?" he nearly shouted.

"Well you wanted it to be her didn't you?" She asked and TK just looked up at her with confused eyes. Jun sat next to him on the bench and sighed. "It's ok. First Matt picks that other girl over me and now you like Kari. I guessed I'm not surprised though. I could tell that you two liked each other from the start." She told TK.

"What do you mean you could tell from the start?" he asked. She chuckled. "I mean that I could tell from the start." She repeated. TK looked at her and chuckled. "Nothing is going on between me and Kari." He told her. Jun laughed. "Whatever you say. I'll see you around." She said and then turned and walked away.

Kari walked into the park and saw TK talking to Jun. Kari knew from Davis that Jun had a small crush on TK, even though she loved Matt more. Kari was going to walk up to them until she saw TK's shocked face. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she was now curious. She snuck up to them and waited behind a bush. Gatomon looked at her questioningly and Kari waved a hand at her.

"_Nothing is going on between me and Kari._"

Kari sucked in a gulp of air when he said that and slid to the ground. She was sitting on the cold wet snow but she couldn't feel anything. Why was TK telling Jun that nothing was going on? Why would Jun care? And did that mean that he never wanted anything to go on between them…Kari looked at Gatomon who had a worried look on her face. Kari shook her head, trying to shake away those thoughts. She stood up slowly and walked towards TK. Jun had already left.

"Hi Kari." He said with a smile and Kari smiled back. She had always had a hard time smiling back because whenever TK smiled at her she just wanted to stare at his smile in awe. But she usually was good at just smiling since he made her so happy. But right now it was hard. She looked over at Biyomon quickly and smiled down at her. "You ready to go see Sora?" she asked and Biyomon smiled back and nodded, not wanting to talk because someone might hear her.

TK looked over at her and smiled. "Well, before we go…umm…I wanted to give you something. You know, a Christmas present." He said nervously looking down. Kari looked at TK's pocket. It was fat, like there was a small box inside it. She smiled at him and then frowned. "But I didn't get you anything." She said quietly, looking down. She hadn't thought he would get her anything.

He smiled. "That's ok. I didn't get it for you because I expected something in return." He told her. She smiled. "Ok. What is it?" she asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. It was wrapped in wrapping paper but from the looks of it, it was a jewelry box. She unwrapped it and in her hand was just as she thought. She looked up at him before opening the box. "You didn't spend too much did you?" she asked nervously.

"Your worth every penny." He told her. She looked up at him and smiled a little. "Then it must have been cheap." She told him. He chuckled. "Just open the box." She looked down at the box and opened it slowly. Inside was the most beautiful diamond necklace. It was the crest of light made up of white gold and diamonds. Tears welled in Kari's eyes as she gazed at the beautiful necklace that now meant the world to her.

A few tears overflowed and fell down her cheeks. She looked up at TK who was looking at her worried. He wiped away her tears with his hand. "Don't cry." He told her. She wiped away the remaining tears and looked over at TK again. "It's beautiful. I love it." She told him.

"Good, because I wasn't sure if the crying meant something good or bad." He told her. She chuckled.

"Something good." He took the box out of her hands and gently took the necklace out. He walked behind her and put the necklace around her neck slowly before clasping it in the back. She looked down at the crest of light and smiled. "I'll always wear it." She told him and his smile brightened.

They began to walk to Sora's and all the Digimon looked around at each other in question. Kari looked forward and walked quietly. She kept looking down at her necklace but she kept thinking about what he had said to Jun. What had that meant? Why had he said it? And what did this present mean? It was the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for her and she was so happy but she was puzzled at why he'd give her that and why he'd tell Jun there was nothing between them all on the same day.

They reached Sora's apartment and she looked at TK. "I have a feeling this has to do with one of our brothers." She told him.

"Or maybe it has to do with both of them." Kari sighed. "I guess we'll find out." She said. TK nodded.

Sora sat in her kitchen drinking some water. Her mom wasn't home so she was by herself. She had just gotten off the phone with Matt. He told her that TK had brought him Gabumon the day before. Sora told him that was great but she was also sad because she wished she could see Biyomon. The door bell rang then. She didn't know who would be here at this time. She stood up and walk to the door.

She smiled. "Hi Kari, hey TK. What's up-"she was cut off when Biyomon ran in and hugged Sora's legs. "Sora! Merry Christmas!" she said to her partner. Sora bent down and hugged Biyomon. She soon had tears in her eyes and she looked at Biyomon. "It's funny. I was just thinking about you." She told her. TK and Kari just laughed at them. They seemed happy that they had reunited the two. Sora stood after a moment and then hugged Kari and TK. "Thanks guys!" she told them. Kari laughed. "It's just a Christmas present."

"I'm sure my brother told you about his." TK told her and she laughed. "Yeah, he told me you gave him Gabumon. Well come in. You guys want anything to drink or eat?" she asked. TK and Kari followed Sora into the kitchen shaking their heads. "No thanks." They both told her.

"So TK, how's that job of yours going?" she asked. Kari looked at Sora and then TK with a funny look and TK looked at Sora with a serious look. Sora was a bit confused. "You told me you got a job because you were saving up for something…didn't you?" she asked. Maybe that had been someone else… "Well, it's not important. Hey, is that a new necklace Kari? It's really nice. It's your crest! Wow. Where'd you get it?" she asked.

Both Kari and TK blushed and everything clicked in Sora's head. TK's job and the thing he was saving up for, the weird looks when Sora mentioned the job and the blush on their faces when she asked about the necklace. TK had been working to save up for that. And from the looks of it, it had cost a pretty penny. But he hadn't told Kari how much it was. And knowing Kari, Kari wouldn't have wanted TK to spend that much on her. So he hadn't told her how he had worked for months to save up for that necklace. She felt a little dumb for not seeing that earlier and making Kari and TK feel uncomfortable.

"It was a Christmas present." Kari told Sora and Sora just nodded. "Well it's nice." She said with a smile.

TK looked over at Kari signaling to her that it was time to see what was wrong. They had already talked about Matt and Sora said they talked on the phone yesterday, so it didn't seem that the problem was Matt. Kari said something before TK got a chance to. "Sora, why aren't you ever by my house anymore. You used to be over all the time hanging out with Tai but now your never over. You need to start coming over more." She told her. Sora had been cleaning the dishes and the moment Kari stopped talking they heard a crash in the sink. TK stood up and ran to the sink to see what happened. Sora had dropped a plate and she now had a bunch of broken glass in the sink.

"Are you ok Sora? Did you drop the dish?" he asked and then he saw her hand. There was blood all over it. "Sora! You cut your hand pretty badly." He told her. She looked down at her hand and then back at TK. "Oh. Sorry about that, guys." She wasn't smiling anymore. She was just looking off into space. It didn't even look like her hand or the broken plate in the sink was bothering her.

Kari got a paper towel and wrapped it around Sora's hand. "Here, sit down. TK, could you clean up the glass? But be careful." TK smiled when Kari told him to be careful and started taking glass out of the sink. It looked like they found the problem.

"Are you ok Sora?" TK asked. She chuckled. "It's just a little cut TK." She told him. TK shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I mean, are you ok? What about you and Tai's friendship? What happened?" he asked. He knew that Kari was glad that even though she couldn't find out what was wrong with her brother, she could at least find out what happened between him and Sora.

Sora sighed. "I…we…it's just…" she stopped and looked out the window. It looked like she didn't know what to say.

Kari stood up and put her hand on Sora's shoulder. "You can tell us you know." She told her. Sora smiled up at Kari and then looked over at TK who had the same determined look on his face. He wanted to help Sora, if it was the last thing he could do.

"Sora, we just want to help." Biyomon chirped in and Sora smiled over at Biyomon.

"Alright." She said. "I'll tell you. If there is anyone in this world that I'd be able to tell, it'd be all of you." She told them and smiled. Then her smile turned into a frown and a look of pure torture soon emerged. TK could see that if Sora wasn't careful and didn't keep her smile up at all times, then this is what her face would always look like.

"It started in the Digital World. We both told each other how we felt about each other. I liked him, he liked me. It was simple. But when we came back from the Digital World and things changed. We talked on the phone every once and awhile and then we'd talk in school but it was like we were just friends again. I thought he had stopped liking me. I thought whatever we had was over. I didn't know. Then Matt asked me out and I didn't want to turn him down since I do like Matt a little and I love him as a friend. I didn't think any harm could come from it. I didn't think Tai would care." She paused and looked up at Kari and TK one more time.

"Then he called and I told him. And he…he…he flipped out. He started yelling at me and I swear that his voice was thick with tears." She told them.

"I remember that. It was only me and him at home and I was in our room and I suddenly heard screaming. I came out and found Tai yelling on the phone. He was crying. When he got off the phone and I asked him what was wrong and who was on the phone but he refused to tell me and just locked himself in our room yelling at me to never ask him again. I was always curious about that…" Kari trailed off.

TK looked back at Sora who was now looking down and tears where coming out of her eyes. "I hurt him." She said through her tears. "I hurt him that bad." She said. Kari looked at her and shook her head. "Don't worry about it too much Sora. Go on with your story. What happened with you two after that?" she encouraged.

"Well, then a few days later Mimi invited me to lunch and told me that Tai had asked her out. I pretended like I didn't care but…"

"It was eating away at you on the inside?" TK finished and Sora nodded.

"Then at Mimi's going away party, I could tell that they weren't really into each other that much. Personally, I think Mimi likes Izzy." Kari looked at her funny. "Izzy? The same Izzy I know?" Sora chuckled. "Yes, but that's another story for another time." She told Kari and Kari just nodded, sad for the moment because she was really interested in that story too, but then she focused on Sora again.

"Well that party was the last time I talked to Tai. You see, at the end of the party, he was the last to leave with you but you were sleeping at the time. I walked him outside and then he told me that we should stop talking. I'll never forget what he said because the words killed me. He said, 'I hope you remain happy.' Why should he hope that! It's not fair how much he cared for me. He didn't do it for himself, he did it for me. But I don't love Matt, I love him!" she nearly screamed and broke into sobs again.

Kari got up and hugged Sora. Gatomon sat on the ground looking sadly at them with Biyomon. Kari stood up with tears in her eyes. "I remember all the stupid pain my brother put himself through. Look Sora, it wasn't your fault. When you guys got out of the Digital World things shouldn't have changed. If a guy doesn't hold on to what he has, he won't have it for long. A guy needs to tell a girl how he feels before it's too late. They need to say something before they get the wrong idea and give up hope." She said as more tears streamed out of Kari's eyes. Sora stopped crying and looked up at Kari who couldn't stop her tears. It didn't look like Kari was talking about Tai and Sora anymore. Sora looked over at TK with a sad glance.

TK was now more confused. Was Kari…talking about him??? Was she crying because TK hadn't told her how he felt? Because she thought that there was some way in the universe that he could not be in love with her?

He ran over to her quickly and held her in his arms. He held her as tight as he could, feeling her words impacting him. They continued to run through his mind. One part in particular. '_If a guy doesn't hold on to what he has, he won't have it for long._' The thought of losing Kari made him hold her tighter. She looked up slowly and he found himself being lost in her big, tear-filled brown eyes. He wiped away her tears for the second time that day and looked down at her. "Don't cry." He told her, the same way he had said it this afternoon.

Sora looked on with a smile. She was happy that they were having this moment. It inspired her. She somehow knew things would get better. They just had too…

***

Hmmm, I liked that chapter. What about you TK?

TK: That was a good chapter.

Kari?

Kari: Very good.

Well I'm glad. If you guys were reading this and you weren't in it, would you review?

Kari: Yes!!! I'd leave a very long and awesome review.

TK: Me too!

Really? That's so nice of you. I think others should follow their example. Remember, if you review, I'll talk about you in the next chapter. Don't you want that?? I know you do. Well anyway, please review and read and I hope you liked it!


	6. Mimi’s Return

Thanks for the reviews! As I promised, you will be mentioned here.

KoumiLoccness – Thanks for continuing to read and review. I'm really glad you like it!

Lord Pata –Your right, TK should have told her the truth but the only reason he said that was because he's still pretty young and when she asked him that he got nervous. Not because he liked Jun but because he's going to deny liking anyone to Jun since he's not very close to her. The whole Jun liking him was because in the first episode we see Jun in Digimon 02, she asked TK to sign her shirt too because she says she lets all cute guys sign it. I just needed her for a plot device really. Haha. I'm also sorry I didn't mention Patamon. He was there but the only reason I didn't mention him was because I was showing the girl's Digimon while they were crying. I'm really sorry I confused you and anyone else who was confused by those things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything, sadly.

Ok well…read!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 6: Mimi's Return

Mimi got off the plane and went to get her bags. She had been in Japan not too long ago to help out the others. She was glad to be back but she sighed anyway. The fact that she was so close to Izzy made her sad. She wished she could stop by his house but she couldn't. It'd be too strange.

She watched the limo driver pick up all five of her bags and put them in the trunk. Her father had hired him though she didn't really think it was necessary. Then again, she wasn't complaining. She jumped in the back and before she knew it she was at Yolei's house. She was going to be spending her time in Japan here because Yolei was the reason she was there. She took the smallest bags in while the driver struggled with the other three. She giggled. "I'm sorry about all the bags."

"It's ok." He huffed as he made it to the door. She told him the leave them there by the door. "My friends will help me." He nodded, grateful and left with his limo. She knocked on the door and one of Yolei's siblings answered it.

"She's in her room." She said giggling. Mimi looked at her strangely, wondering what was so funny. She shrugged it off and went on ahead. The girl pointed to Yolei's room and then left her. She now wished that the limo driver had stayed as she lugged the rest of her bags to Yolei's room. She didn't bother knocking because she had no hands. She just pushed the door open with her foot.

She wished she had knocked. She dropped all her bags and looked in the room with wide eyes.

***

Ken had gone over Yolei's house early so that he'd get there before Mimi would. Yolei had answered the door extremely happy to see him. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her. She always made him smile. As odd as it sounds, he had realized his feelings for her the day that she had slapped him in the Digital World. He had really needed the slap that day.

They had gone into Yolei's room after she had taken Minomon into the backyard with Palmon and Poromon. He wasn't really sure what to say. He was pretty shy around people, especially Yolei. She had been the first to start talking. She just told him a bunch of things about herself. He listened and nodded and laughed at the things she said to him. Then she started asking him questions and he'd answer them all, until one question stopped him.

"So, do you like any girls?" she asked. He looked at her with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't know if he should tell her the truth. She didn't wait for him to answer though.

"I like someone. Guess who." She told him. He took a deep breath. He had had a suspicion as to who she had liked so he thought he might as well find out if he was right. "Davis?" he asked. Yolei burst out into laughter at that. She was rolling around on the floor laughing as hard as she could. Ken looked at her strangely until she stopped laughing.

"Sorry about that. It's just, how could you think that? I thought I was clear…hmmm I guess I'm not that good at flirting." She mused. Ken continued to look at her strangely. She looked back at him and chuckled. "I don't like Davis." She shook her head. "He annoys the crap out of me." She told him.

"Then who…" he mumbled. She began to blush and look away. "Well, he's really smart and-" Ken cut her off. "Izzy?" he asked. She shook her head again. "Let me finish!" she told him. He nodded and kept his mouth shut.

"As I was saying," she continued. "He's smart, a little shy, and" she paused and blushed. "kind." She finished. "Oh and he's sitting in this room." Now it was Ken's turn to blush. He looked at her and smiled though. "Well I'm relieved." He told her. She looked over at him in surprise. "Well you never told me who you liked." She reminded him with a smile on.

"Hmmm, well she sitting in this room." He said quickly before he'd lose the nerve. She laughed and then hugged him. Then she looked up slowly and kissed him…and continued to kiss him…for awhile.

***

Yolei flushed bright red when she saw Mimi in the doorway. She pulled away from Ken quickly who was just as red. Then Mimi started laughing. Before they knew it, Mimi was rolling on the floor a lot similar to the way Yolei had been not too long ago.

When Mimi finally stopped laughing she stood up and looked at the two in front of her. "Hmmm, you guys make a cute couple." She told them which made them both blush more. Mimi walked into the room, leaving her bags on the floor. Yolei stood up and brought them into the room, knowing that was what Mimi wanted.

"Hey, why don't we all go into the backyard?" she suggested. She had kept all the Digimon out there since it was a nice day. Ken nodded and they both looked at Mimi. "We have a surprise for you." She told her. Mimi laughed. "I hope it's better than that last surprise." She teased and they both blushed again. They all stood up and went into the backyard. Yolei looked around but didn't see Poromon, Minomon, or Palmon anywhere. Then out of nowhere she felt something on her head. She laughed and picked little Poromon off her head. "Hi! You got me!" Minomon ran out from behind a tree and tackled Ken. He fell to the ground laughing. It was nice to see him so happy. Yolei had always worried that he didn't smile enough.

Yolei looked over at Mimi who looked at Poromon and Minomon a little sadly. Yolei ran over to her and smiled. "Now it's time for your surprise." She told her. "Palmon!" she called. Mimi's face lit up the moment she heard Yolei call that name and soon Palmon ran out from behind a few bushes and hugged Mimi. Mimi was crying as she hugged Palmon. "Oh Palmon! I've missed you!"

"Merry Christmas!" Yolei shouted. Mimi was still hugging Palmon but she began mumbling "Thank you!" over and over again to Yolei. Yolei just continued laughing at Mimi and Palmon as they both cried together. They sure were close. She wondered how Poromon would react after not seeing her for a long time and then being reunited. She knew she'd most likely react the same way Mimi was.

Finally the two stopped crying and began laughing. They sure were a pair. "I'm so glad you're here! How long are you staying?" Mimi asked. Palmon thought for a moment. "I don't know. I guess as long as you're here. Right Yolei?" she asked and Yolei nodded. "As long as you want I guess. I don't think you all have to go back at a certain time." She told them and they smiled. "Great!" they said at the same time.

Ken looked at Mimi and then began to talk. "You're staying for a week right?" he asked. She nodded and then Ken went on. "Maybe we'll have the whole gang of DigiDestined together, new and old. You haven't seen Tai right? And aren't you guys dating?" Mimi nodded but the smile had faded from her lips. '_It looks like Tai is the problem._' Ken thought to himself.

***

Mimi had stopped smiling the moment they had mentioned a big DigiDestined meeting. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Tai. She was just scared to face Izzy again. She felt like a coward. The last time they had been together, Mimi had been a blubbering mess. He had held her while she cried but she had felt a little silly. Although he had been understanding and sensitive, there was nothing she wanted more than for him to hold her longer.

She looked up at Ken and Yolei who were watching her. Palmon was standing next to her looking at her too. She had been there the day she had kissed Izzy in the Digital World. She probably knew what was up but she hadn't told anyone. She loved Palmon so much! She was so glad that she had kept the secret like a true friend. She hugged Palmon again and whispered in her ear. "You kept my secret didn't you?" Palmon smiled. "Of course Mimi." Then Mimi laughed and looked back at Ken and Yolei. "I've missed you so much Palmon! I still can't believe you're here!" she yelled so that they wouldn't be confused about how she just randomly hugged Palmon again.

"Hey! Yolei, didn't you tell me you needed my help shopping? We should go right now! Nothing like shopping at the mall on such a beautiful day!" she exclaimed. Shopping would cheer her up that was for sure. "So when is this Christmas party? And who has a Christmas party after Christmas?" she asked. Today was Christmas and if the party wasn't tonight, then it had to be another time.

Yolei looked a little guilty. "Well, there wasn't a party." She admitted. "I needed to tell you something so you'd come. How else would you get Palmon?" she asked. Mimi smiled. "That's true. And it's ok, I'm not mad or anything. I'm grateful for your present." She said smiling and looking down at Palmon. Palmon smiled back.

Yolei smiled. "Alright, then let's go shopping!" she yelled excitedly. Ken sighed and followed them out the door. Mimi ran back in and grabbed a rain coat out of her bag. She put it on Palmon and put the hood up. "There. No one will think about it too much. I hope." She said with a giggle. Yolei and Ken held Poromon and Minomon because they could pass for dolls easily.

They walked to the mall because it wasn't far away. They shopped around for a bit before coming to a dress store that Mimi and Yolei ran into quickly. They had no idea when they would use these dresses but they figured it couldn't hurt to buy one anyway. Mimi looked around and found a dress that matched her pink hair and when she found Yolei she was holding a purple dress that matched her hair. They both laughed and ran into the changing room. They both came out and showed Ken, Palmon, Minomon and Poromon.

"What do you think?" Yolei asked them and giggled. Palmon walked over to Mimi and smiled. "Wow Mimi. It looks a little like that dress we had in the Digital World when we were princesses." She said and laughed. Mimi laughed too remembering how fun it had been being a princess, until she had become a bit of a brat.

Ken looked at Yolei without words. Poromon and Minomon jumped up and down. "You both look great!" they said happily. Yolei looked at Ken waiting for an answer and when she didn't hear anything she frowned. "What? You don't like it?" she asked angrily.

"No no! You look great." He told her and Mimi started laughing at the two. They changed back and ended up buying the dresses since they liked them so much. They started walking through the mall again and Mimi looked at all the stores until she saw a computer store and she stopped walking and just looked inside. It was a silly thought. What were the chances he'd be in there? It was silly. Stupid. But as she started walking again she had to stop and go back. She stood in front of the store fighting with herself.

"Mimi. Do you really want to go in there?" Palmon asked with a worried expression on. Palmon must have known exactly why Mimi wanted to go in there. Mimi looked down at her, unsure. "I don't know…" Yolei and Ken had noticed that Mimi had stopped and walked up to her. "What are you doing Mimi? Why'd you stop?" Yolei asked.

"I want to stop in this store." She said, making up her mind.

Yolei looked at her questioningly. "This one?" she asked.

"Yes." Mimi told her and walked in. As Mimi walked around slowly Yolei continued to look at her funny. "Since when have _you_ been into this kind of stuff?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Umm, since awhile." She lied. She looked around a bit but she wasn't really looking at the stuff. She was looking at the people. None of them were the red head she wanted to see though. She sighed. "Ok, we can leave." She told them. At that time Yolei was looking at things happily and huffed when Mimi said she wanted to go. Ken was also looking at things as Mimi told them she wanted to leave.

She looked down at the ground upset that she hadn't found what she had been looking for and headed for the door. Just then she hit into someone and fell to the ground. "Ouch." She said as she looked over at the other person she had knocked down. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. '_Of course._' She thought to herself at she looked at Izzy. She was so happy to see him until she realized what this meant. Seeing him just meant pain. Because seeing him reminded her of what she couldn't have.

He stood up while she sat on the floor dumbfounded. He held out his hand to her, just as speechless as she was. She took it and stood up. She smiled at him even though she wanted to cry again. "It's good to see you." She told him and his frown turned up into a little smile. "You too." She said. He looked at her hair and chuckled. "I like the pink." He told her. She laughed. "I'm glad." She told him.

Palmon walked up to Mimi and Izzy and smiled at them both before giving Mimi a worried look. Mimi just frowned at her and then looked at Yolei and Ken who had just walked up to them. "Hi Izzy! Hi Tentomon!" Yolei said to them. Mimi looked down and saw Tentomon in a rain coat just like Palmon. She hadn't even noticed him. "Oh, hi Tentomon. I didn't see you down there." She told him.

"How could you not? You were just down here yourself." He said to her and she chuckled. She had been distracted by Izzy, but she wasn't going to say that.

"Umm, where's Joe?" Ken asked. "He was looking in some medical store with Gomamon so I told him I was going to go ahead and come here." Izzy told them. He looked at Mimi and the store, confused for a moment. "Did Yolei and Ken have to drag you in here?" he asked, looking surprised that she'd be in that store. She looked down.

"No. She dragged us in here!" Yolei said. Izzy raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?" he asked and Yolei nodded. "I still don't know why she wanted us to come in here. She came in here and then was dragging us out in about five seconds." She said confused.

"Uh, I had needed something for my…dad! Yeah, my dad's computer broke and he had been telling me he needed something but they don't have it here." She said quickly, hoping that would make everything make sense.

"Really? What is it? I probably have it at my house." Mimi's hope dropped. She didn't know computer parts and Izzy knew that. He was looking at her with an I-caught-you face on. She held her head high anyway though. "I don't remember what it's called. That's why I decided to stop looking for it. I figured if I saw the name I'd remember it but I didn't so I give up." She said proudly, glad she could make up such a good lie. She looked up at Izzy's face and noticed that he had been looking at her face. He looked away quickly when their eyes met.

She continued to stare at him, feeling tear threaten to spill over. She looked away from him and turned around to wipe away her tears. She tried to make it look like she was looking in the mirror behind her but she could see the reflection of Yolei who had seen the tears through the mirror. She cursed the stupid mirror and continued to fix her hair. She turned back around to see that Yolei and Ken were talking about computer parts that could possibly be what she was looking for and Izzy was silent. Yolei looked at her for a moment but continued with the conversation as if she hadn't seen Mimi's tears. She looked over at Izzy again, wondering why he was so silent. Her eyes met his once more and he looked away quickly.

She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to scream. She wanted to say something, tell him how she felt and ask why he's looking at her that way. But her, being the coward she was just decided to run away…again.

"Yolei, Ken, we should go now. I really want to get home quickly and Izzy should probably meet up with Joe again. Nice to see you again!" she yelled as she pulled Ken, Yolei and Palmon away. She didn't need to pull Minomon or Poromon away since Ken and Yolei were holding them. It was a good thing because she had to more hands. She was already holding Palmon and Yolei with the same hand.

She ran out of the store and then let go of Yolei, Palmon and Ken and began running as fast as she could. Palmon ran with her, keeping up with her. "Mimi, you know you shouldn't have gone into that store. You only got what you wanted." She told her. Mimi stopped running and looked back at Yolei and Ken since they were running to catch up. Behind them, she saw Izzy standing outside the computer store staring after her. She ran around a corner with Palmon as soon as she saw him.

"I know Palmon but it was too much. I wanted it but I didn't. I don't know. I'm confused." She told her and then ran into a beauty salon. She could always feel at home in there. She sat in a chair to catch her breath. She didn't want to get her hair done or anything, she just felt safest in there. Yolei and Ken ran in a few moments later out of breath. "I think we found the problem." Ken said and Yolei nodded.

*********

Wow, that was a fun chapter. It was way different then the other ones. Oh and don't worry, in the next chapter we'll see Izzy's side of that day.

Izzy: Yay!

Be quiet! That's out of character! Izzy doesn't say yay!

Izzy: He does if he wants to.

I'm ignoring you. Anyways, review!!!!!!


	7. Izzy’s Oh So Fun Day

Sorry this chapter took so long! My step sister is here for the week so things have been kinda crazy. I really wanted to write this chapter too so it sucks just as much for me as it does for anyone else who reads this. So if you do read this, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!

KoumiLoccness – Sorry if I didn't mention those things. I usually mention the things the character notices and Mimi hadn't really noticed the height. I'll make sure Izzy does. And Izzy didn't dye his hair. Same color as usual.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, just this story.

Enjoy!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 7: Izzy's Oh So Fun Day

Izzy climbed out of bed that morning the same way he always did. Today he would have some company. An interesting change. The even more interesting thing about it was that it was another DigiDestined. He hadn't talked to most of them in a long time. Then again, the only reason he was needed was because of a computer problem. That seemed to be the reason most people ever called on him. He helped the new DigiDestined a lot but they only needed his help with the technical stuff. The one time they needed someone in the Digital World they called everyone but him. Tai had heard it that night. To be honest, he really wasn't all that mad; he was just taking out his other problems with Tai and putting them in with that current one. He got over his annoyance pretty fast that day once he realized what he was doing.

He went inside and sat at the table. He never really paid much attention to anything anymore. So it surprised him when his mother came and sat down at the table with him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Merry Christmas." She told him.

"Merry Christmas." He said back to her with a smile. He had forgotten it was Christmas. He usually sat in space most of the time. If he continued to think about equations and other things like that, he'd keep Mimi off his mind.

But that didn't work all the time. He couldn't help but think about her all the time. She was the one thing he wanted at the moment and it hurt him when he thought about her in America. He missed everything about her.

He was brought back to reality when he thought about Joe coming over later. That was why he needed to be alert today. If he didn't act normal Joe would want to know what was wrong with him and he didn't plan on telling him. His mom sat next to him just watching him. He wondered why. He wondered if she did this often and he just never noticed. "What are you looking at?" he asked slowly, wondering if he might have some food on his face.

His voice seemed to wake her up from her thoughts because she jumped a little. She looked a little surprised. Maybe she had done this a lot. Being more alert was strange. He used to be so alert that he'd catch anything. That was how he figured out so many puzzles and mysteries. But now when he tried, he was good at not seeing anything. Today was like a brand new day compared to others. It was strange.

Then his mother spoke. "Oh nothing. I was trying to figure out what you were thinking about. Well, what you're _always_ thinking about. You seem out of it lately." She told him. Izzy was surprised. How did she know? Mothers seemed to know everything. Then again, maybe it was an obvious thing. Who knew?

"I'm fine. Just thinking about things on my computer and stuff I still need to figure out. By the way, Joe's coming over today. I promised I'd fix his computer. I hope you don't mind since it is Christmas."

"Of course not. It's been awhile since one of your friends came over. It's always nice for kids your age to hang out with other kids." She said with a smile. She always worried that he was anti-social or something. You could just tell how happy she was to hear that a friend of his was coming over. He got up and put his plate in the sink. Wait, he didn't remember eating anything. Maybe he was still not used to being alert since he hadn't even noticed the food. He was worse off then he thought. "I'm gonna go get ready." He told her and she nodded.

***

Joe put Gomamon in a big bag and tried to get it on his shoulder. It took a few tries but he finally got it. "Geez Gomamon, did you get heavier?"

"Hmmm, I have been eating a lot lately…" Gomamon pondered. Joe laughed and closed the bag on his head. Then he turned to face Tentomon. "You ready?" he asked. Tentomon was putting on a rain coat and had just managed to get the hood on.

"Almost." He said as he zipped it up. "How do I look?" he asked and Joe laughed. "Enough like a human…I think. Well, either way, it's not far from here. You've been out for longer than this before." He told him and Tentomon nodded.

"Alright, then let's go." He said as he pulled Tentomon out the door. They walked to Izzy's and were in front of his door in no time. He rang the bell and hoped Izzy would answer it soon. Gomamon was getting really heavy. Just as he thought that, the door opened to Izzy. He smiled. "Merry Christmas! Long time no see." He told him and Izzy smiled. "Yeah, I know. I haven't really seen anyone." He said.

Joe smiled and looked behind him at Tentomon. "I have something for you. It's from all the new DigiDestined for Christmas. I'm delivering it." He told him. Izzy looked at him funny and a little surprised. Joe stepped to the side and Izzy smiled wider. "Tentomon!" he said happily. Tentomon ran to Izzy and Izzy bent down to hug him.

"Come on Izzy, you know I don't like that mushy stuff." Tentomon complained. Joe and Izzy laughed as Izzy let go of him and stood up. He looked at Joe's bag and smiled. "Uh, that's a bit fat to be your laptop isn't it?" he asked.

Joe looked down at his bag and Gomamon stuck his head out. "Hi Izzy!" he said and Izzy laughed. "I thought you were in there." He looked around at Joe. "So where is your laptop?" he asked him. Joe looked down and then started laughing. "I think I forgot it." Izzy started laughing too.

"You came over my house so I could fix your computer and you forget it?" he asked. Joe continued to laugh and nodded. "What about your term paper?" Izzy asked.

Joe stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I think all my computer needs is some new parts. Truth is, I dropped it and the battery cracked so I think I just need a new one." He told Izzy. That was what had happened. He had just "dropped" it on purpose. But he couldn't tell him that yet. That would have to wait until they talked.

Izzy thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Then let's go to the mall. There's a good computer store I like to go to there." Izzy told him. Joe nodded and then put Gomamon back on his shoulder. "He got heavy!"

Izzy laughed and looked at Tentomon. "You're all ready, right?" he asked. Tentomon laughed. "You just don't want to have to carry me around." He accused and Izzy laughed. "True but really I was just wondering." He said as he put Tentomon's hood back up.

***

They made it to the mall pretty quickly. Gomamon and Tentomon started complaining about being hungry so Izzy told Joe they should go to the food court first. They got to the food court and sat down at a table. He started to think about Mimi again but stopped himself. He was with Joe and he had to be careful. If he acted strange, his friend would want to know what was wrong. He was glad Tentomon was there. He could talk to Tentomon about Mimi later because Tentomon already knew all about what had happened in the Digital World. He had been there.

He looked around the room and then back at Joe who was looking into his bag at Gomamon. Then he looked up at Izzy. "Are you hungry?" he asked. Izzy shook his head. "No." he told him. They all got food, besides Izzy, and ate quickly.

"Hey Izzy, do you care if we stop in a medical store first? I just wanted to look at some of the new equipment." He told him. Izzy didn't see the fun in that, then again, most people never saw the fun in Izzy's computers.

"Yeah, that's fine. Hey, do you care if me and Tentomon go look around a bit? We'll come right back here. Maybe we'll just go get the battery and then we can spend our time here hanging out instead of watching me find stuff in the computer store. Plus you know me. I might just get distracted in there and end up getting more than just your battery." He admitted.

Joe laughed at him. "Ok, Izzy. Me and Gomamon are just gonna stay in that medical store waiting. And if you take too long, we'll go to the computer store to find you. Ok?" Izzy nodded and grabbed Tentomon pulling him away.

"Why are we rushing off? Where are we going?" Tentomon asked.

"I just want to check something." He told Tentomon. He stopped in front of the store he'd been looking for.

"Why are we going in here? What could you possibly be looking for in here?" He asked, extremely confused until it clicked in his mind. "Izzy…she's probably not here." He said quietly as they looked into the dress shop.

Izzy didn't say anything. He just continued to stare into the store as a women came up to him. "Ummm, are you looking for something???" she asked, clearly confused.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, just someone." He said and then he turned around and walked away.

"So that's what's been bothering you." Tentomon guessed. Izzy sighed.

"You know me too well."

"Are you ok?" he asked worried.

Izzy sighed. "Not really. I mean, I really miss her but I don't know why. If she were here it wouldn't be any better. She'd still be going out with Tai and we'd still never talk. Her going to America didn't really change anything. Nothing could change it." He said sadly.

"That's not true." Tentomon said, looking at Izzy, who know the one thing he could do.

"No way!! I'm not telling her how I feel! She doesn't feel the same way! I'm not going to make a fool out of myself!"

"How do you know that will happen? Maybe she does like you. Why else would she have kissed you?"

"First of all that was a long time ago and second, she didn't talk to me at all after. So what does that mean in your book? That she's madly in love with me?" he asked.

Tentomon laughed. "Well, you haven't exactly talked to her either, and look at how you feel." Izzy for once had no answer. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. There wasn't anything that could. What could he say to that? Tentomon was right. He mindlessly walked into the computer store he knew so well. He was dazed and not paying attention. He was thinking about what Tentomon said.

And then he was suddenly on the floor. He had hit into someone. He shook his head and looked over at the girl he had knocked to the ground. He was about to say sorry to the girl with pink hair when she lifted her head and the words stopped themselves from coming out.

It was Mimi. He looked at her and she looked at him. He didn't know what to say. It had been so long. And to think he had been thinking about her when he had hit into her. He stood up slowly but she didn't move so he held out his hand to her, still not able to say anything. She took his hand and stood up. He tried not to think about how much he liked the feel of her hand in his. They fit together perfectly.

Once she was standing he was puzzled for a moment. Had she gotten shorter or had he gotten taller. He hadn't kept track of his height but he was now a few inches taller than her. It was weird since he had always been so much shorter than her.

Then she smiled. That smile would've made his day if it hadn't been forced. He could tell when she forced smiles because he loved her smile. He loved watching the way her eyes lit up and the way her whole face would turn into the happiest and most beautiful sight in the world. It would make him smile on any day. But when he looked for the sparkle in her eyes, it wasn't there.

Then he noticed the bags under her eyes and began to wonder about that. Had she not gotten enough sleep lately? How long had she been here? Maybe the time zone difference was still throwing her off or something. It's not like she had sat up all night thinking about him like Izzy had been thinking about her for so long.

"It's good to see you." She said. These words were what made him smile. Because they were real. She meant them. After looking at her for so long he knew when she was lying. All he had to do was look her in the eyes as she said the words and he'd know. "You too." He answered. He looked at her hair and chuckled. "I like the pink." He hadn't even known it was her at first. "I'm glad." She said sincerely.

Then Izzy saw Palmon walk up next to her. He guessed that all the DigiDestined had gotten their Digimon for Christmas. Then Yolei and Ken came over with Poromon and Minomon.

"Hi Izzy! Hi Tentomon!" Yolei said to them. Izzy smiled at her and Ken and then looked back to Mimi. She looked at Tentomon when Yolei had said his name. "Oh, hi Tentomon. I didn't see you down there." She told him.

"How could you not? You were just down here yourself." He told her and she chuckled. He loved the way her chuckle sounded. She had the most amazing voice that he'd be able to pick out of a crowd any day.

"Umm, where's Joe?" Ken asked.

"He was looking in some medical store with Gomamon so I told him I was going to go ahead and come here." He told Ken.

Then he looked at Mimi and realized where they were. A computer store. Why would Mimi be in here? Then he remembered who she was with and had to chuckle at the thought of Ken and Yolei dragging her in there. "Did Yolei and Ken have to drag you in here?" he asked.

"No. She dragged us in here!" Yolei yelled. Izzy looked at her funny. That didn't make any sense. Why would Mimi drag them in here? She had always hated this kind of stuff. He was confused. Maybe he had heard her wrong.

"Are you sure?" he asked and Yolei nodded. "I still don't know why she wanted us to come in here. She came in here and then was dragging us out in about five seconds." She said confused.

He looked over at Mimi, very confused, waiting to see why she would be in here. "Uh, I had needed something for my…dad! Yeah, my dad's computer broke and he had been telling me he needed something but they don't have it here." She said quickly. Izzy smiled. She was lying. He knew it. And he knew the perfect way to catch her lie.

"Really? What is it? I probably have it at my house." He told her, knowing she had no idea what she was "looking" for. He looked at her, his eyebrows raised, waiting to see how she'd get herself out of this one. She held her head high though, ready for the next bullshit that would soon come out of her mouth.

"I don't remember what it's called. That's why I decided to stop looking for it. I figured if I saw the name I'd remember it but I didn't so I give up." She said almost proudly. Izzy held in a laugh and nodded. He could tell that Yolei and Ken had bought the lie.

He looked at Mimi's eyes and realized something. He had been paying so much attention to how she would lie, that he hadn't thought about why she would lie. Why would she lie about coming in here? Why had she really come in here? He looked into her eyes and found himself being lost in them and lost in thought about this mystery that for once, he couldn't solve.

She looked up at him and their eyes met. He looked away quickly, embarrassed that he had been caught staring at her. He really didn't need her to think he was more of an idiot. He sighed quietly but no one heard.

He looked up after awhile only to see her turn around and look into the mirror behind her. Yolei looked over at Mimi too with a face of pity. Pity? Why would she pity her? What was Mimi's facial expression? He couldn't see into the mirror.

Yolei began talking about computer parts or something but he wasn't paying attention. He was watching Mimi again. Thinking about the puzzle he couldn't solve and partly just looking at her face.

Then she looked over at him again and he looked away quickly. That was twice! It had never been this hard before. He had always stared at her. He had tried to memorize everything about her. He never got caught. Maybe once or twice but it probably just seemed like he was looking around or something.

Then he realized that the stare had done something to Mimi because the next thing he knew she was grabbing Yolei, Ken, and Palmon and yelling, "Nice to see you again!" as she ran out of the store. Izzy was so confused at what had just happened. He walked out of the store watching her run away. She had let go of Yolei and Ken, and Palmon was now running with her. She was _sprinting _away from him. She felt the need to run _that_ fast?

She stopped running and looked back at him. Her face was one of panic and worry and sadness all mixed up into one horrified face. He didn't understand it though. He looked on with sadness as he watched her run away. It was like that one horrible night so long ago in the Digital World. That horrible night that she ran away and never spoke to him again. The image that had given him nightmares was now replaying in his mind. But now he had a new image playing too. The one that just happened.

He had lost her once, he didn't want to lose her again. He ran in the direction Ken and Yolei had disappeared in but when he rounded the corner, they were gone. He looked around slowly but didn't see them anywhere.

He decided it would be wiser to let it go so he turned around slowly and walked back to the computer store. Tentomon was waiting for him there. He sat down outside the store next to Tentomon. "There she goes…again." He said sadly.

Tentomon sighed. "You didn't find her?"

"Nope. She disappeared."

"Don't worry, you'll see her again." He assured him.

"I hope so. I don't think I can live without her. It's getting to be too much. That's probably why they got you to come here isn't it? You're here because they want to know what's up with the DigiDestined, am I right? I mean, I am a genius, you should give me more credit."

Tentomon started laughing. "You got it again. Joe broke his own computer. He has no term paper either." He admitted.

"I knew it." He shook his head. "Look, I know what you guys are trying to do but I don't' think it's a good idea. I mean, you shouldn't mess with everyone's lives. You can't make everyone happy." He told him quietly.

Tentomon sighed. "I know. But we can at least find out what's wrong. We can at least try. Right?"

"I don't know Tentomon. Think about it. I like Mimi. Mimi is dating Tai. Even if Tai likes Sora, Sora is dating Matt who is almost in love with her. So if you make me happy, maybe Mimi and Tai will be unhappy. If you make Tai happy, maybe Sora, and defiantly Matt will be hurt. You can't win. Your messing with things that shouldn't be messed with." He warned.

"How do you know all that about everyone?" Tentomon asked. Him and Joe had just been told about Tai's situation today.

"I guess I can just tell." He said with a shrug.

"You're too smart for your own good." Tentomon said with a chuckle.

Then Izzy looked over and saw Joe running towards him. "Hi! I waited but you never came so here I am. What are you doing?"

"Tentomon and me were talking. I didn't get your battery. Sorry. Next time, try not to drop it _purposely_ when you have a fake term paper due." He told him and laughed.

"You told him!" Joe accused Tentomon.

"Well, he kinda guessed. In his own words, he _is_ a genius, you should give him more credit." Tentomon quoted and they all laughed.

Then Joe sat down and Izzy told him the whole story from start to finish.

*********

Once again, sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy and review!!!!


	8. Big Ideas

I'm so sorry I haven't updated this!!!!!! The worst thing in the world happened! My computer broke! I cried every night because I couldn't write!!! Ok, maybe it wasn't that serious but still! It sucked. I love my computer! Horrible month. I'm so poor too that I finally just got it fixed. I hope any of you reading this still remember this story and continue to read it.

KoumiLoccness – I agree about Jyou. I always liked Jyou but they always make him the bad guy since they always make Jyou like Mimi. And I also agree with you about the height thing. It'd be weird if Mimi was taller. o.O

Flywheel Shyster and Flywheel – I'm sorry that you're dead. I hope chapter 8 will bring you back to life.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, just this story.

Enjoy!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 8: Big Ideas

Tai walked into school Monday morning slowly. He was prepared to talk to Sora today. Agumon had gone back to the Digital World with the others, but the long week with him had helped Tai a lot. Agumon made him realize that he needed to set things straight with Sora. He hoped she would listen, and that he wasn't too late. She might not want to listen to him after he just left her there that night. He had left her outside her house with barley a goodbye. It had killed him to do it though, and maybe if she understood why he had done it, she wouldn't be too angry. He held his breath as he went down the same hallway he went down every day, always hoping to catch a glance of her, the hall where her locker was. It was always out of the way from his classes but he always liked to see her, if only for a moment.

He looked at her locker and sure enough, there she was. He wasn't sure what he was going to say. Should he start telling her everything or would that scare her away? Perhaps he should just say hi and walk away. Then the next day say a little more. He could work up to being her friend again and then tell her everything.

As he was walking and thinking he was getting closer and he still had no idea what to say. Then before he knew it, his chance was gone. He had almost made it. He had almost had enough time to say hi and keep walking. But just as he was about to pass her, Matt came. Matt came over and kissed her on the lips quickly before stopping to talk to her longer. Tai didn't stop walking, he just kept going. To most people it wouldn't look like anything. He sighed.

Tai hadn't thought about Matt. That probably wasn't a very good thing to do. Matt was his best friend. How could he try to steal his girlfriend? He knew that Matt liked Sora a lot. Then something else occurred to him. How much did Sora like Matt? Did she like him a lot too? What right did Tai have to come in and ruin everything? What if he ended up making things confusing for Sora and painful for Matt?

Tai groaned as he continued to walk to his next class. Whatever he wanted didn't matter. If he got what he wanted he'd be selfish. He'd be causing other people pain. Pain that he knew too well and didn't want to pass on to anyone. Especially not the girl he loved or his best friend.

He continued to walk until finally he realized that he was in the wrong hallway. He wasn't even sure where his random walking and thoughts had taken him until he realized he was back in the hallway he started in. And there she was. Sora was still at her locker and Matt was gone. Now would be the perfect chance. He took a step but then stopped. What about everything he had just thought about? He was standing in the middle of the hallway not moving, probably looking stupid. That was when he looked up and saw Sora staring at him.

He had no idea what to do yet so he figured the best plan of action was one he did far too much. He ran away. He turned around and walked down the nearest hallway there was. He wanted to hit himself in the head for looking so stupid. He should've been paying attention to where he was going.

Just then the bell rang and Tai groaned again. Now he was late too. Could the day get any worse? As he began walking to his class that he knew the teacher would not be happy in, he noticed a big poster on the wall. He looked over at it. It said, "TALENT SHOW FRIDAY NIGHT! If you think you can sing or dance or do any strange or funny act, then sign up by Thursday to be in the talent show! Show everyone what you can do up there!"

Tai suddenly got an idea. It was a little stupid but it just might work. A way to talk to Sora without anyone knowing, even her. And if she listened hard enough, maybe he'd get his answers. And if she would rather be with Matt he won't have to hear her say it. She just wouldn't even talk to him. There was only one problem . . . Tai couldn't sing!!

***

Mimi was at the airport ready to leave Saturday night when she called up her parents and asked them if she could stay longer. They were a bit confused but they seemed to understand since it had been a long time since she had seen her old friends. She was glad about that but then she had to call Yolei. It would be hard to stay if she didn't have a place to stay. Yolei agreed to let her stay at her house until she was ready to go home.

"Yolei, I've made a decision." She said as she sat on her bed. After that day at the mall in the beginning of her vacation here, she had told Yolei and Ken everything. They had listened with heavy hearts and then told Mimi about Operation Tofu. They said they weren't supposed to tell her so she couldn't say anything about it. Mimi told them she wouldn't say anything if they didn't. She didn't want everyone knowing about her and Izzy because she didn't want them to try to fix her problems.

"What?' Yolei asked.

"It's the same decision that's caused me to have to stay in Japan longer." She told her. Now Yolei was interested. She sat up on the floor and turned to Mimi, closing a magazine in one quick motion. "Well what is it?" she asked impatiently.

"I'm not leaving Japan until I'm happy." She said proudly. Yolei was still a little confused.

"And what do you mean by happy?" she asked.

"I guess until I've talked to Izzy and really got through to him. But I don't just want to come out and say it to him. Otherwise, he might not feel the same way and it'd be awkward."

Yolei chuckled. "Mimi, how do you talk to someone without talking to them?" she asked, finding Mimi's rant a bit amusing.

"I don't know yet." She told her.

"You could write a letter." Yolei suggested.

Mimi shook her head. "No, I don't like that. Not personal enough."

"How much more personal can you get?" she asked.

Mimi thought more. "Something poetic."

Yolei laughed. "A poem?" she asked.

Mimi shook her head. "No, I can't write a poem. Plus that's too sappy for Izzy. Can you picture him sitting and fawning over a poem?" she asked doubtfully.

Yolei laughed. "Maybe you should buy him a computer." She teased. Mimi rolled her eyes.

Then Yolei jumped up. "I've got it! A song! You're good at singing, right?"

Mimi looked at her funny. "A song isn't a bad idea but if you haven't noticed, we don't live in a musical. I can't just break out into song out of nowhere!"

Yolei laughed. "No silly, our school is having a talent show!"

Mimi for once felt like the smart one. "Once again, in case you haven't noticed, I don't go to your school." Yolei rolled her eyes.

"I know that too, but you can still compete if you use my spot. You see people from the school can get friends or family members to compete as long as they aren't competing. Kinda like giving someone your spot. I mean, I wasn't going to be in it anyway but still, you can sing." She explained. Suddenly Mimi didn't feel like the smart one anymore.

"Ohhh. I get it. Yolei, you're a genius!! But are you sure Izzy will be there?" she asked. Going to a school talent show didn't seem like something he would do. If it was the science fair, that might be a different story but why would he come to watch people sing and dance?

"Oh, he'll come. Me and Ken will just drag him along. And don't worry, we won't tell the others anything. They'll just have to hear for themselves." She said with a smile. "Now just one thing to do." She got up and pick up a box on a shelf. She opened it and inside was a bunch of CDs. "Pick a song."

Mimi shook her head. "Oh I don't need those. I have a song picked out already that's perfect."

***

Joe began having a staring contest with his phone. Izzy had told him the whole story but begged him not to tell anyone anything. But he knew that Yolei and Ken had talked to Mimi and he wanted to call them and tell them to find out what was going on. But he didn't want to break his promise to Izzy. His staring contest wasn't going well either. The phone was winning. Finally he picked it up and dialed Yolei's number. It's not like she'd tell Mimi anything. Plus he'd only be helping Izzy if it turned out Yolei had some good information.

The phone rang for a bit until someone finally answered the phone. "Hello?" she said.

"Yolei, I have to tell you something!" He would've gone right into the story but he was cut off.

"This isn't Yolei, Joe. It's Mimi." She said happily.

"Oh, Hi Mimi. Um, didn't you go home yesterday?" he asked, wondering why she was still here.

"Yeah well, I figured I needed more time here since I haven't seen you all in so long that one week isn't enough to hang out with everyone."

"Oh. That makes sense. Well, where's Yolei?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to tell Yolei anything with Mimi there but he had already asked for Yolei so he couldn't just hang up now.

"She's inside, what did you want to tell her? I'd be happy to give her the message."

_'Crap._' He thought to himself. What could he possibly say? Then he got an idea. "Uh, well, I just wanted to tell her something I saw on the news. Her favorite tofu brand was recalled!" he said quickly. He knew it was the stupidest thing he could think of but he figured if he added something about tofu, she'd knew what the call was about without Mimi knowing.

"Really?" Mimi said questioningly. "Why was it recalled?" she asked innocently.

"Umm, it was giving everyone, um, nose bleeds." He made up quickly.

"Oh man, wouldn't want too many people getting those. I'll be sure to tell her right away. So I'll go now and tell her what you said, Nice talking to you Joe! Bye!" she said and hung up. Joe put the phone on the receiver. He hoped Mimi hadn't seen through his lie. He had never been a very good liar. He always got nervous and lied about stupid things. Like today, he had made up the stupidest story ever. He sighed. He hoped Yolei understood his message though and would call him back when Mimi wasn't around.

***

Sora sat at her lunch table staring off into space. Yesterday had been a weird day. Tai had been in the hallway, just standing there. He kinda looked like he had seen a ghost. But he was looking at her, not a ghost. She had really gotten her hopes up that he would talk to her today. After her talk with Kari and TK she thought things would be different, but then she had to remember that just because she had had great friends talk to her, didn't mean that someone had talked to Tai.

Her thoughts were interrupted when there was suddenly a hand waving in front of her face. She shook her head and looked over at Matt. "Sorry. Staring off into space again." She said with a chuckle. She just hoped that one of these days this excuse wouldn't be seen through. She really didn't need it to happen today.

"Are you sure?" he asked. _'Of course he sees through it today._' She thought to herself sarcastically. He continued. "I mean, you stare off into space a lot. Are you sure you're ok?" He asked. Sora just laughed and nodded. "I'm fine Matt. I just have a lot on my mind, between school and the flower shop. I was thinking about everything I have to do today. The list is not comforting." She told him. He laughed. "Ok. Well, as long as you say you're ok, I believe you. Just remember that you can always talk to me about anything, ok?" Sora smiled and nodded.

"I know Matt. Now I'm gonna get to my next class. If I'm late today my teacher's gonna kill me and lunch is gonna be over any second." She told him. Just then the bell rang and she knew she had a good 5 mins to get to class before it would ring again. He kissed her goodbye before heading in the other direction.

***

Tai picked up the phone and dialed Matt's number. He had a solution to his not being able to sing problem. He had written a song and he knew Matt's band could perform it for him. They could just say he wrote it and everyone would hear his words, without him having to make a fool of himself, trying to sing. It was a little wrong of him to make Matt sing a song for him to the girl he loved. It wasn't like Matt would know though so he figured it didn't matter.

"Hello?" Matt answered.

"Hi Matt! It's Tai." He told him.

For awhile all he heard was silence. He though Matt had hung up on him for a second. "Tai? I can't believe you called me?" he said in shock. That explained the silence. He hadn't talked to Matt for awhile now. He really hadn't talked to anyone. He probably should have thought of that before now but it was too late now.

"Yeah, I know. I've been really busy lately, haven't really got a chance to talk to anyone really. I'm sorry to call out of nowhere and ask you for a favor but I need to ask you for a favor." He told him. Matt just laughed. "Yeah, it's defiantly you. Sure Tai, anything." He said still chuckling a bit.

"It's about the talent show…"

*********

Sorry it's kinda short but nothing really happens in this chapter. The next chapter will have a lot more. I'm also sorry for my stupid computer breaking! I really hope I still get lots of reviews and my old readers still come back and read more of this! Please review!!


	9. Talent Show

It's so good to be able to update so soon. I've missed it! T.T Well, enjoy this chapter. I know it's gonna be fun to write.

KoumiLoccness – I think the reason people think of him as the bad guy is because Joumi is a big thing so they always have to do that. The same way Matt is the bad guy in a lot of Taiora fics. And happy birthday! Glad I updated at the right time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, just this story. And I don't own any of the songs in the chapter. I don't even own the song Tai's gonna "write". Yes, I'm going to lie by saying he wrote it. =P

Enjoy!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 9: Talent Show

Tai sat down at his chair, thinking. Matt had agreed to sing a song in the talent show for him. He'd tell everyone before the song started that Tai wrote the song and then she would know. She would be there if Matt was performing so no worries there. Now he just had to write the song. This was proving to be the hard part. He sighed. He wasn't exactly the poetic type. He looked down at the paper and suddenly got an idea. He figured he could just write his emotions and hopefully they'd sound good. Seemed like a really stupid idea but it was all he had.

It took a few tries. Nothing sounded right. He really didn't want to sound like an idiot since everyone, including Sora, would know that he wrote the song. The first few songs were mostly about his true feelings and how they were a secret, but they just sounded really bad. So he kept trying and soon enough, the song turned into something he hadn't really intended. But he had to admit that he liked it. It was pretty angry and a little sad but he figured it would do the job.

Then he realized that he didn't have any music to go with it. He decided to call Matt again and told him that he finished the song. Matt said not to worry about the music because they had a brand new beat that they were dying to add lyrics to. They said they would fix it up so the lyrics fit well with the music and it'd also flow really well. Tai thanked him a lot and e-mailed him the lyrics so the band could practice. He told Tai that he really liked the song and never knew Tai could write things like that. Tai shrugged and said it was nothing.

***

"Hey Sora!" Matt called one lunch period. Sora looked up to see Matt running towards her. She smiled as he sat down. "You're coming to the talent show tonight right?" he asked. She smiled. She had guessed he'd be performing tonight.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it. So what song are you playing? Is it one I've heard?" she asked as she took a bite of her sandwich. Matt laughed and shook his head.

"Nope. You'll be very surprised to know that Tai wrote the song and asked me to perform it tonight." At the sound of Tai's name Sora began to choke on her food. She swallowed hard and looked at Matt.

"Tai? Like, the Tai we know? You know the one with the crest of courage? That Tai?" she asked quickly. Matt laughed.

"That very one. Why are you so shocked?" He asked

"Oh, no reason. Just shocked that he'd be able to write a song." She lied quickly.

"I know me too. And the funny thing is, the song is really good. A bit sad, but really good." Sora looked down at the ground. '_Sad? How sad is Tai's song? And please don't tell me it's going to be about me. Wait, he wouldn't do that. Write a song for me and have Matt perform it. Yeah, he must have just wanted to write a song for the talent show. That's all…I hope.'_

"Sora?" Matt asked. Sora snapped out of it and laughed. "Uh, it's good? I guess I'll just have to hear it for myself." She said with a fake smile, hoping he wouldn't see through it.

Matt looked at her for a moment and then laughed. "I guess you will." He said with a smile.

***

Izzy looked in the mirror and frowned. He was being forced to go to the stupid talent show tonight. Yolei insisted on dragging him there with her and Ken. That was mostly why he didn't want to go. Sitting in a room with some bad singing kids was nothing compared to sitting with a couple. It didn't matter who the couple was, he just hated being around them all. He was supposed to leave soon and he was just about done getting ready in the bathroom. He had just gotten off the phone with Yolei too. She had told him what exactly to wear. Joke was on her, since he wasn't listening to anything she was saying. He was just gonna wear whatever he wanted. He chuckled and walked out the door.

***

Joe ran to the park late again. They were having another meeting for Operation Tofu. He was now going to have to lie to them all. Since he hadn't talked to Yolei on the phone that time, he decided he just wouldn't tell anyone, like Izzy asked of him. He made it there again as everyone sat there waiting with a board look on their faces. As he looked around he was surprised to see TK sitting with his arm around Kari and Yolei and Ken holding hands. They hadn't told him anything about that. All the Digimon were on the ground eating out of a grocery bag that Yolei had probably brought.

He couldn't help but laugh at Davis's face. He was staring at TK and Kari looking like a sad puppy dog. But the moment he saw Joe, he seemed to forget all about it.

"Hi Joe! Glad you could _finally_ make it!" he yelled out. Joe laughed. "I'm sorry guys. Ok, now let's start. Davis and Cody, let's start with you, tell everyone how things went with Tai." Cody smiled and opened his mouth but Davis was faster.

"We did it!!! He told us everything! Having Agumon there really helped too." He told them. Cody continued with the details, telling them everything that happened. TK and Kari gave each other uneasy looks but were also a bit relieved that Sora and Tai both felt the same way about each other. After Cody was finished Kari explained what happened at Sora's and they all sighed in relief that the problem would be solved, expect Joe.

"Guys, the problem isn't solved. Didn't you tell Tai to talk to Sora? It's been a week. You'd think he would've said something by now. Neither of them have talked since." Everyone frowned knowing he was right. Then he looked to Yolei hoping he'd get the answers he needed to help Izzy.

"Well Yolei, what did you find out?" he asked.

"Uh, well, me and Ken found out nothing. Mimi doesn't seem to have a problem. I'm sure if she does, she'll solve it herself anyway." She said quickly. Joe frowned.

"Nothing?" he asked sadly. If Mimi said nothing then that might mean that she didn't feel the same way about Izzy. But then he remembered what happened at the mall.

"Wait! What about at the mall when she ran away from Izzy?" he said quickly.

"Uh, she was…sick! Yes! She felt like she was going to puke all over so she ran to the bathroom. She wasn't feeling good at all." Yolei said quickly. "Enough about Mimi, what about Izzy?" she asked.

"Uhh, nothing. I found nothing." He said quickly. "He seems fine." Yolei looked at him funny and yawned. "Well, if there is nothing wrong with them, and Tai and Sora are still unhappy, then it seems Operation Tofu was a failure."

They all looked down, disappointed. Then Joe stood up. "That's not true. I'm sure that the things they talked about made them feel better. And maybe it's forcing them to think about their situations and do something about it. We don't know if we failed just yet." They all felt a little better from Joe's speech. Then Yolei looked at the time.

"Whoa, we have to go Ken. We're going to the talent show." She told them. "So am I." Joe said. Soon everyone agreed on going and they all set off except Yolei and Ken.

"Yolei, Ken, what are you two waiting for?" Joe asked. "We have to wait for Izzy." They told him. He smiled. "Ok, I'll wait too."

***

Tai was sitting backstage waiting for the performances to start. He would stay backstage until Matt went since it was his song. Matt's band would go on 5th. Number 7 didn't seem to be here though because they was supposed to be sitting next to him, since number 6 was another band practicing. It didn't really matter to him though. Then he saw a burst of pink come running to the seat next to him and he began to laugh. "Mimi? I thought you went home."

Mimi jumped when he spoke to her. She seemed a bit nervous already. She turned around and smiled when she saw him. "Oh, hi Tai. Yeah, I decided to stay and now Yolei dragged me into this tonight." They laughed. "What about you? You're performing?" she asked skeptically. He chuckled. "Nope. I just wrote a song." He told her.

He knew that once she heard the song she might be confused so he took a deep breath. It seemed that now was the time to tell Mimi everything. "Hey, Mimi, we need to talk." He said slowly. Mimi nodded. "I agree." She said. He tilted his head. "Ok, um, you start." He told her.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Tai but I don't think I can date you anymore." At that Tai started laughing. He was pretty glad that she felt the same way. At first she was angry that he was laughing at her. "What is so funny?" She asked.

"Mimi, I was going to say the same thing." He told her. Then she began to laugh. "Boy am I glad you feel the same." He told her.

Then she looked at him. "Just out of curiosity, how come?" she asked. He frowned. Then smiled knowing he'd get an answer if he answered her question.

"To be honest Mimi, I like someone else." He told her. She laughed.

"Me too!" They both started laughing.

"So who?" She asked.

"I'm sure you already know but if I must say it, Sora." He said. She smiled.

"I knew it!" she said happily. "And what about you?" he asked.

She frowned. "Oh come on, I won't tell anyone, or laugh. I probably don't even know him, is he from America?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, it's, uh, it's…Izzy." She said quickly and closed her eyes, looking away.

He looked at her shocked. Never in a million years would he have guessed that. He smiled though. "That's cool Mimi. You know it's funny, you guys are kinda perfect for each other." He told her.

"Really?" she asked with a smile. She seemed glad that he didn't make fun of her for it. And that he said they were perfect for each other. Just then Matt's band stood up behind the curtain and Matt looked over at Tai. "Almost time. Oh, hey Mimi!" he said happily.

"Hi Matt!"

"Almost time? Aren't we 5th?" he asked. Matt laughed. "Yes, four acts have already gone on."

"Oh, really? I guess I didn't notice." He said sheepishly.

Just then the curtain opened and he looked out at the crowd. He looked around for awhile until Mimi tapped his shoulder. "She's right there." She whispered, pointing at Sora. Tai smiled. "Thanks." He whispered back.

"Hey everyone!! How's it going tonight?!" Matt screamed. The crowd screamed back to him and Tai laughed. Matt loved the attention. "Good! Tonight I'm going to be singing a song written by my best friend Tai! Come out here Tai!" That was Tai cue to stand up and walk to the stage. The light shined on him and he was blinded as he waved to the cheering crowd and then walked back to the curtains. He could see Sora perfectly from where he was and he intended to watch her the whole way through the song. He wanted to see her reaction.

Matt began playing and he sat back to watch.

((The song is Stab my Back by All American Rejects of anyone was wondering.))

Now we're broken on the floor,  
She just wants me to share her.  
It hasn't been this way before,  
She just wants me to dare her.

The phone rings (The phone rings),  
And she screams:  
"Stab my back,  
It's better when I bleed for you.  
Walk on me,  
There never was enough to do."

I can't get past her,  
Falling faster,  
It's true.  
It hasn't done a lot for you.

And every time he held you close,  
Yeah, were you thinking of me?  
When I needed you the most,  
Well I hope that you're happy.

Tai thought that line was a bit harsh now as he looked at Sora's horrified face. Well, it had been horrified but after those lines she now had her eyes closed and she was just shaking her head back and forth, looking at the ground. From the looks of things, this wasn't going well. This wasn't what Tai wanted. He hadn't meant to make things worse. He didn't want to watch anymore. He stood up and Mimi looked at him sympathetically. She could see Sora just as well as he could."Where are you going?" She whispered. "Anywhere but here." He told her and walked out of the backstage area door that led outside.

***

The song continued and Sora's tears continued along with it. She wasn't crying because she was mad at Tai or because the song was mean or hurtful. It was his true feelings, and she was actually glad he had allowed her to hear them. The truth hurt to hear sometimes though. But she made up her mind. She was going to go talk to him after this, as soon as the song was over. She continued to listen to the rest, it was now the last verse, an instrumental had just finished and she was sad that the song was almost over. It really was a good song. He must have worked really hard to get his feelings down on paper.

I hope that love he gave you,  
Was just enough to save you.  
You nearly broke my heart,  
Just look at what you're tearing apart!

Stab my back,  
It's better when I bleed for you.  
Walk on me,  
There never was enough to do.

I can't get past her,  
Falling faster,  
It's true.  
It hasn't done a lot for you.

It's better when I bleed for you.  
It never was enough to do.  
It hasn't done a lot for you.

Sora wiped her eyes as the song ended and looked up at the stage. She suddenly remembered Matt and hoped he hadn't seen her. Of course he had though. And he was heading off the side of the stage right towards her. She looked over at Kari who was sitting next to her and began pleading with her eyes.

"Go talk to him. I'll distract Matt for now." She told her. Sora thanked her and ran the other way towards the back stage where she knew Tai would be. When she got back there though, Tai wasn't there. But Mimi was. She ran to Mimi out of breath. "Listen Mimi, I'd love to talk right now but where's Tai?" She asked quickly. Mimi shook her head. "He left. He saw you crying and he told me he was leaving."

"What? He left? Where did he go?" she asked. Mimi shrugged and she sat down. "Oh. I wasn't really upset or anything. I'm glad I know." Mimi smiled. "I'm glad I know now too. Did I tell we broke up?" she asked. Sora looked up to say sorry but then stopped. "I'd say I'm sorry but your smiling." She said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I know. We were both going to break up with each other at the same time because we both like other people." Mimi told her.

"Well, then I'm glad." She said with a smile. Mimi laughed. "Stick around, things might get interesting for me too." She laughed. "Plus I have a plan."

She picked up Tai's jacket that was sitting behind her. "Besides, he won't get far without this tonight. It _is_ still January." She said with a chuckle.

***

Izzy sat down with Yolei, Ken, and Joe. He was glad Joe was there. He wasn't a third wheel anymore. They had gotten there a little late. So the 6th act was on. It didn't matter to Izzy though, only less torture to go through. He sat back and was about to get ready for a nap when the 6th act ended and a beautiful pink haired girl stepped on the stage. He sat up and as he did he looked over to see Yolei, Ken, and Joe watching him. He decided to ignore them right now and deal with them later.

"Our next act is Mimi Tachikawa all the way here from America. She will be singing Tangled Up in Me by Skye Sweetnam!" The principle yelled as if he was a DJ or something, Izzy didn't know the song so he figured he'd listen to it, to see why she choose it.

You wanna know more, more, more about me  
I'm the girl who's kicking the coke machine  
I'm the one that's honking at you cuz I left late again

Izzy chuckled. This sounded just like Mimi already. It seemed she picked her song well. Yolei looked over at him when he laughed and smiled. He saw it out of the corner of his eye but choose to ignore her…again.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Can't you see I want you by the way I push you away. Yeah!  
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today  
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction. Yeah!

Hey! Hey!  
Get tangled up in me

Izzy's laugh turned into shock at the lyrics. Was she talking about him? No, it couldn't be. Must have just been the song. There was no way she was talking to him. No way in the world. Although it did sound like what she did to him. Yolei leaned towards him and whispered to him. "You're right about what you're thinking you know." She told him and then leaned back to her seat. Now he stared at her in astonishment. Did she know what he was thinking from the look on his face? He looked back up at Mimi, now determined to hear every word of this song.

You wanna know more, more, more about me  
Gotta know reverse psychology  
I'm the reason why you can't get to sleep  
I'm the girl you never get just quite what you see

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Can't you see I want you by the way I push you away, yeah!  
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today  
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction, yeah!  
Hey! Hey!  
Get tangled up in me

you think that you know me.

(tangled up in)  
You think that I'm only

tangled up in me  
When everything I do is only to get tangled up in you

You wanna know more, more, more about me  
I'm the girl that's sweeping you off your feet

Izzy had to laugh at that line too. Everything she was saying was pretty much true. So if those parts were true, were the other parts about her feelings true? He had to know. It was now or never. Live for the moment was what is heart was telling him. He needed to talk to her and find out. He didn't care if she didn't feel the same way back. He just needed her to know how he felt and he needed to know how she felt. Good or bad, knowing was better than wondering. Him being the curious type he was, knew that better then anyone.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Can't you see I want you by the way I push you away, yeah!  
Don't judge me tomorrow by the way I'm acting today  
Mix the words up with the actions do it all for your reaction, yeah!

Hey! Hey!

Get tangled up in me

Izzy stood up and Yolei pointed to the door that leads to the stage. "She'll be up there!" She told him. He smiled. "Thanks Yolei." He told her, knowing she knew what was going to go on tonight the whole time. He ran up to the stage door and opened it quickly before running inside…

*********

AHHHHH!! Cliff hanger!!!! I wasn't going to do it since I know I personally hate cliff hangers but I just had to! I'm sorry! I hope the suspense kills you the way it's going to kill me until I write the next chapter! Please review anyway though!!!!! It'll make me want to write faster!


	10. Confessions

Yay! Update! This one took awhile too. Oh well, it's almost over. *sniffle sniffle* This might be the last chapter. Well, I'll need an epilogue of some sort but then that's it! AHHH!

KoumiLoccness – That's true, considering most Joumi hints were only in the dubbed version. And that's really cool that your 27. And don't worry, you've got a long way before you can call yourself old.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, just this story.

Enjoy!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Chapter 10: Confessions

Tai was freezing! He had forgotten his jacket back stage and he was kicking himself mentally for the lapse of retardation. He was so angry though. His plan had gone horribly wrong the moment he had sat down and wrote that song. The things he said were mean and hurtful. He knew Sora had never meant to hurt him and he was just rubbing it in her face now. He probably looked really pathetic too. She was hysterical crying and it was his fault.

Another blast of cold hit him and he considered going back for the jacket. But he shook his head and continued walking. He couldn't go back. He'd get his jacket at school tomorrow. But he didn't really know where to go right now. He had nowhere to go. He didn't want to go home because his parents would question him. Plus when Kari got home he'd hear it from her. All his friends were out of the question. They were all at the talent show anyway. They'd just question him some more or be mad at him for hurting Sora. He frowned.

"I am such a jerk!" he yelled out loud. Luckily no one was there to hear him talking to himself except an old lady who gave him a funny look and walked off. Then he got an idea. He knew where to go. Back during soccer him and Sora would go across the street to this little park and just hang out. There was a tree house there that no one knew about. The only person who knew about it was Sora and she probably wouldn't be looking for him.

He turned down the street to head in the direction of the park. _Plus,_ he thought, _the wind won't get me up there._

***

Sora walked outside with Tai's jacket. Mimi was still singing and she had told Sora to stay but she decided against it. She knew Tai and she knew there was a chance he'd forget all about the jacket or not care about it. She didn't know where to look for him so she just started roaming the streets going anywhere. She figured she'd find him somehow. She just had to. Maybe he went home. That would have the most logic to it. She decided she'd try there first.

***

Mimi turned around when the back stage door opened and her heart almost pounded right out of her chest. It was Izzy. He was standing in the door way just looking at her. She didn't really know what to say. Her plan hadn't really gone this far. She was shaking so she decided to sit down in the chair next to her. When he noticed her shaking, he smiled. It was warm and sweet, something she hadn't seen in a long time.

Something she missed.

That was when she seemed to calm down. She could breathe again and she realized they hadn't said anything to each other yet.

"Hi." She said quietly.

He chuckled and sat down in the chair next to her. It was funny, with every step he took towards her, her heart seemed to beat faster. She had a dim feeling even he could hear it.

"Hi." He said quietly. "I liked the song you picked. It…fit you." He said after a bit of thought. She smiled.

"I hoped you'd notice that." She said with a smile. Then she looked down and started to talk quickly. "You know what and who it was about right? Because that was the point and if you didn't that was really suck because then I'd have to explain a lot of things. But if you didn't get it, it was about you and I meant every word I said. Or sang rather. The point is that's how I feel about you and I don't know how true the lyrics in the song were about your feelings on this but I just really wanted you to know those things and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but please, please don't lie to me if you don't feel the same for the sake of my feelings because-"

She was cut off when his lips suddenly met hers. At first her eyes opened wide with surprise, then they shut with pure happiness and she was glad her mouth was occupied elsewhere otherwise she wouldn't even know how to explain how happy she was. After a moment he pulled away and his face looked almost as shocked as hers. And then he smiled and started to laugh.

His laugh was music to her ears. A sound that would be cherished as much as his amazing smile. It was sweet and innocent, and it made her begin laughing too.

"It's funny." He began. "Now it was my turn to surprise you." He told her, as they both remembered that first kiss they had shared.

She hadn't realized she had been crying when she was blabbering on and on until he touched her face to wipe the tears away.

He smiled at her. "I'm glad you feel that way. And the lyrics in that song were pretty dead on."

She looked down again. "I never meant to hurt you when I stopped talking to you. I think I was just scared. At first I thought I was scared of what other people would think but I realized I was lying to myself. I was scared of myself. I was scared I'd get too attached. More attached then you would and then I'd get my heart broken."

"That's probably my fault though. If I wasn't such a solitary person who would rather spend the day with computers then people, maybe you would've realized how much I truly care for you." He told her sadly. He clearly regretted not being with her all this time.

"Well forcing myself to go out with Tai didn't really help things either."

He frowned. "Oh my God, I forgot about Tai. He's going to-"

"No, no! It's ok. We broke up."She said quickly. He looked relieved.

"Well, that's good. I would've felt bad." He told her.

"It was funny, we were both going to break up with each other at the same time since we both love other people." The moment she said love she covered her mouth as fast as she could and began to kick herself. _Great, you just get him and now you want to scare him away?!_

But to her surprise, he just started laughing again. She hadn't realized that he was still holding her until he pulled her in closer to bury his face in her hair. She wasn't noticing a lot of things tonight.

He was still laughing into her hair when he whispered. "It's ok. I think I love you too." She let out a sigh of relief at his words and he pulled away to chuckle. "You really think I'd care about all this so much if I didn't love you?" he asked.

Mimi smiled. She realized that he'd wanted this more than anything, just like her. All the times she thought she had been alone in her feelings, the kiss in the woods, her party, her time in America, the mall, even tonight, she had been wrong. He had been there feeling the same things. The pain, the sorrow, the missing, and most importantly, the love.

She smiled and kissed him again. She was beginning the like how she could do that at any time now. She had thought this day would never come but it did and she couldn't be happier.

Just then the back stage door opened and they stopped to turn their heads towards the door quickly. In the doorway was two beaming block heads, in Mimi's opinion. It was Joe and Yolei of course, come to ruin the wonderful moment. She was a bit annoyed but also extremely embarrassed at the same time. She could feel the blush on her cheeks, and Izzy's.

Yolei was now jumping up and down like a lunatic and Joe looked a bit apologetic. "Can I help you?" Mimi asked impatiently and Izzy started laughing.

"No, it's ok. They might as well come in now." Mimi had a feeling he enjoyed how pouty her face was. She looked back at Yolei and Joe who were walking in and sitting down. Yolei looked ready to burst at this point.

"YAY!" she said loudly. "I can't believe it worked!!!! Go Operation Tofu!!!" she screamed. Mimi looked to Izzy ready to explain when he started laughing. "See? Wasn't a failure was it Joe?" Izzy said. Joe laughed and shook his head.

"Wait you know about Operation Tofu?" she asked.

He looked at her funny. "You know? I mean, I kinda guessed but Joe told me the details. Who told you?"

"What makes you think I didn't guess?" she said, trying to sound smart. They all started laughing, and after another pouty face, she was laughing too.

"Ok, so Yolei told me." Then when she thought about Operation Tofu she looked around. "Hey wait, has anyone seen Sora?" she asked. They all shook their heads.

"I know Matt's out there talking to Kari. I think she was stalling but he just seems to be getting mad. Maybe we should help her." Yolei told them.

"You're right, let's go." Mimi agreed.

***

It was getting late and Tai was nowhere to be found. She was actually getting worried. She had no idea where he was. It was cold, dark and he didn't even have a jacket. A little walk to hopefully talk to him tonight had turned into a frantic search for him. At the temperature this low, he'd freeze to death if he didn't have shelter or a jacket.

Then she got an idea. It was a long shot, but he might just be there. She walked to a park across the street from her old soccer field and looked up in the trees, looking for a tree house. After a while, she found it. She climbed up the latter and sure enough, huddled in the corner of the tree house was Tai. He was asleep, and shivering.

She was worried for a moment. It wasn't good to go to sleep when that cold. They always say to stay awake or you'll freeze in your sleep. But she was here so that wouldn't happen. She got closer but had to stop and smile at his sleeping form. His face looked so calm and innocent. Not the way she always saw it whenever he saw her. Not almost pained. She missed this look to him. She took the jacket and put it over him, before gently moving some hair out of his face. She smiled. How could she have been without this? Without him? How did she live for so long without him? How did she not just die of a broken heart? She wasn't really sure.

But that didn't even matter now. What mattered was that he was here. And so was she. She tried to wake him up but he didn't get up. That was when the worry really kicked in. What if- no, he was breathing. She could hear his breathe. She didn't really know what to do. So she sat next to him, hoping that would keep him warm and waited.

***

Tai squeezed his eyes shut. If he woke up, he'd be cold again, and he didn't want that. So he thought if he squeezed them shut he'd stay asleep. He'd dream about hearing Sora's voice again. But it was no use. He was awake now, and it was time to deal with the consequences. Then something struck him, he wasn't cold anymore. At first he worried that he had gone numb or something, but then he realized he had something around him and something warm next to him. A blanket and a heater? He opened his eyes slowly looking down. No, not a blanket, his coat. But how did he get that. And when he looked next to him, it wasn't a heater.

"Sora?" he whispered. His throat was horse, almost frozen. She looked over at him quickly. "Tai! You're ok! I was so worried. I thought you'd froze! Why are you even out here this late at night in January without a coat? Why aren't you at home??" she yelled and then frowned. He smiled weakly. Yep, just like Sora to yell at him for being stupid. She was pretty good at it.

"I'm sorry." He said.

She sighed. "I know, you just worried me to death." He smiled. She was worried about him, even after everything he wrote in that stupid song.

"So you don't hate me?" he asked. Her expression softened and he thought she was going to cry again. She just shook her head and choked out, "No. I could never hate you."

So he'd been right about the crying. He smiled. "Well then I'm glad."

Then a tear did spill over. "You should hate me. I hurt you. I hurt you so much and you took it silently." She said, as the rest of the tears came bursting out.

He sat up and put his arms around her. "Please don't cry. It wasn't your fault. You weren't trying to hurt me. Plus it was my fault for just counting on you always being their waiting. I should've known that you wouldn't wait around forever." He told her.

She turned around so that his arms where now holding her and she put her arms around him back. She just kept whispering "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He tilted her head up and looked into her eyes. "Please stop saying that you're sorry. I forgive you even though it was my fault." He said.

She shook her head but didn't say anything else. He leaned against the wall and sighed, glad she had stopped crying and saying sorry. But he hadn't taken his arms back yet. And neither had she. They were just lying there, holding each other when he looked down at the same time she looked up quietly she had one tear on her cheek and he slowly leaned in and kissed it away. She smiled at that and her smile was enough to make him smile back.

Then this time she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. He was a bit surprised but he wasn't complaining. He kissed her back with all the love and passion he should have been kissing her with for awhile now. The kisses seemed to get deeper and deeper as the night went on, along with other things that neither of them seemed to think about. Neither of them thought of Matt at all since every time a thought of him popped up, a gentle touch or a kiss from one of them cleared it away immediately and the night went on in peaceful bliss, not thinking of the consequences.

(Hey, it wasn't rated T for nothing. I had plans people.)

***

"And why can't I go Kari?" Matt asked getting angry.

"Because you can't go into the girl's bathroom. Maybe Sora's, uh, sick?" She said. She wasn't having much luck keeping him from finding Sora.

"I saw her crying I need to know why. Besides, I'm just going to yell into the bathroom, I won't even go in." he told her.

"She wasn't crying! She was chopping onions! And you can't leave because the hallway is, uh, leaking." She said, mentally kicking herself for those dumb excuses. Who chopped onions at a talent show? And how can the hallway leak?

Matt looked at her, a bit angry now. Probably because her excuses where getting stupider. She was about to think of something else to say when TK finally cut in. "Kari what are you talking about? She wasn't cutting onions. Truth is, she wasn't feeling well and she didn't want you to worry so she told us to keep you busy. Sorry we lied. Truth is, she went on home already and we didn't know how to tell you. That's why Kari started making worse excuses." He said and laughed. Kari wanted to hug him for the save and Matt looked like he was buying it too. He sighed.

"Ok. That makes sense. Kari's never been a great liar. I'll just call her cell phone or something. Thanks." And he walked away pulling his cell phone out as he went. Kari sighed and looked over at TK. "Thank you so much." TK just laughed. "I'm used to lying to Matt so it's ok."

"Kari!! Where is Matt going!?" she heard someone scream. She turned around and saw Izzy, Mimi, Yolei and Joe running towards them. Yolei had been the one to scream.

"We told him Sora went home." She said with a smile.

"Did she go home?" Mimi asked.

"Umm, no. She went backstage you should've seen her back there." She told her, a bit confused.

"She's not back there and we can't find her!" She said worried.

Now Kari was even more confused. "I don't understand. Where could she have gone?"

"She must have gone to go look for Tai." Mimi guessed, since his jacket had been missing.

"Where did Tai go?!" Kari asked. Why was everyone disappearing?

"We don't know!" They all shouted. Now she was getting worried. She pulled out her cell phone and called home. Her mom answered and said that Tai wasn't there but that Sora had just been there not too long ago looking for him too.

"Is he alright?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, he's fine, we just didn't know if he left, that's all." She told her. "Now I'm gonna go ok? Bye!"

She hung up and turned around. "Tai's not home and you were right about Sora going to look for him. My mom said she had just been there looking for Tai."

Everyone was getting a little worried. All of the sudden a phone started ringing and Mimi looked in her pocket quickly. "Uh oh. It's Matt." She said.

Kari looked at her funny. "Matt? Why is he calling you?"

Mimi shook her head. "Not me, Sora. We found her phone on the floor. She must have dropped it. What should I do? Should I answer it?"

"We could just tell him the truth." TK said and everyone gave him a look that said "Bad idea." He shook his head. "I mean, about the phone part. That she must of dropped it when she ran to the bathroom and ran home not knowing she dropped it."

"Ohhh." Everyone said. Then Mimi answered it and told him the story. "We should go look for Tai and Sora ourselves. We could split up and find them. I mean, we all have phones to keep in touch and if anyone finds anything they can just call everyone else and tell them." Izzy suggested.

That was the first time Kari even noticed Izzy was there and she looked at him for a moment, then noticed his hand holding Mimi's. She smiled since Sora had been right then nodded at his idea. "That's good I say we do that. Teams of two and we're gonna need to go get Davis, Ken, and Cody. They're here somewhere." He said, thinking.

"Me and Kari will look at Sora's house and then just around there." TK said then the others began to pair off and pick places. In the end, the groups were Ken and Yolei, Mimi and Izzy, and Joe, Cody, and Davis. It kinda seemed like all couples to Kari except for poor Davis who clearly wanted to tag along with Kari and TK, though Joe and Cody didn't seem to notice. And then they all left quickly though Kari hadn't noticed that Matt had been watching the whole time.

***

No one had noticed him standing close by. But he was now going to go off in his own team determined to find Tai and Sora and hoping he didn't find them together.

He searched all night not finding anything. The sun was starting to come out and he wondered if the others had found anything but didn't dare to call and ask. They didn't know that he was looking as well and they clearly didn't want him to know. After he had gotten off the phone with Mimi he had come back in planning to stop by Sora's and bring her phone back in the process when he heard them taking about search parties. He was a little worried about that. Apparently Sora and Tai were both missing and they were all going to set out to find them.

So he figured he could help too. It was now dawn and the sky was a purple color with the orange sun coming out from behind a cloud. He sighed. All night and he had found nothing. He was useless. If he couldn't even find his own girlfriend and his best friend then what good was he? Then again, he hadn't been a very good boyfriend or best friend. He wondered into a park and sat down.

He knew he had done wrong the day he had asked Sora out. He knew Sora liked Tai and the other way around. He hadn't seen anything between them but he just knew. And he hadn't cared. Sora was never really happy with him and he knew it. She thought he was blind to her sadness but he wasn't. She was never really into anything they did together. She was always day dreaming or zoning out. And since the day Sora had gone out with him, Tai had almost stopped talking to him. At least until recently, when he asked him to play that song. He knew what it was about but he couldn't bring himself to tell Tai "no" about playing the song. The reason Tai felt how he said he felt in the song was his fault and he knew it. Everyone thought he knew nothing but the funny thing was, he knew everything and just choose not to believe it.

But it was time to believe. He knew this day would come deep down, but he had just pushed it away and stupidly hoped he could hold on to Sora tight enough that she just wouldn't want to let go. It was stupid and foolish and everyone was paying for it now. Himself, Tai, and most importantly, Sora. He knew what he had to do.

He had to find Sora, and break up with her.

And with that, he knew he had to get back up and start his search again. Knowing that when he found her, it wouldn't be the happy reunion he wished it would be. Not by a long shot.

***

Sora opened her eyes and looked around. For a moment she didn't remember where she was but then her memory came back and she looked around quickly. Tai had been there, hadn't he? She couldn't have dreamed up a night that perfect, could she have? She was in the tree house with his jacket over her and all her clothes on but she was alone now.

And very confused. She tried to think back to remember him leaving but she couldn't. She sat up a bit and looked around. Yep, he defiantly was not here. She stood up, as much as she could in the tiny tree house and looked around some more. It was stupid to look around so much in such a tiny tree house but she was so groggy she kept looking even though she knew he wasn't there.

She even looked out the window and as she looked out at the frost covered park she found a beauty to it. Everything, the grass, the benches, the street lamps were covered with a thin layer of frost from the morning dew. It was dawn and the sunrise was beautiful as well. If only Tai was here to share it with her. That reminded her of her search. Then right before she turned to leave, she noticed something that wasn't covered in dew.

It was someone sitting on a bench. She would've thought it was Tai but the boy had blond hair and the moment she realized who it was she gasped. It was Matt. He wasn't looking in her direction; he was just sitting there, looking sad. She hadn't thought of him at all last night and now she felt horrible. Did he know? That was all she kept asking herself. Why else would he look so sad? And he just happened to be in the same park? Then she caught sight of Tai. He had been under the tree house and he was walking over to where Matt was sitting now. He must have been climbing down when she woke up and he had no idea she was awake. They wouldn't be too far away if they stayed on that bench and from here she would be able to hear the whole conversation.

Well they were talking about her, so she had a right to know, right? It wouldn't really be eavesdropping right? Oh well, she wasn't going to leave now.

***

Tai had woken up and looked out the window only to see Matt wonder into the park and sit down. He began to feel like the worst best friend in the world at that moment. He knew he had to talk to him. He just knew he did. He wasn't sure what he was going to say or if Matt was going to be very angry but he had to talk to him either way. It was only the right thing to do. He wasn't so sure about telling Matt the highlights of his night, but he could at least hear what Matt thought so far and maybe tell him how he had felt about their whole relationship the whole time. He owed him that much after what he had done.

He had left Sora sleeping not wanting to wake her up and he figured his jacket would keep her warm. He stepped right up to the bench and sat down next to Matt with a sigh. Matt didn't even look over at him, he just laughed and looked down. "Wow that was easier than I thought. I didn't even have to get up."

"You where looking for me?"

"Yeah, well everyone is looking for you and Sora right now. So where were you two?"

"What makes you think she was with me?"

Matt laughed. "Would you believe me if I said lucky guess?"

"Not at all." He laughed.

"Well, Sora may think I'm blind but I know how much she cares about you and when she went missing after you did, it only made sense that she was looking for you. Knowing you two's relationship, I knew she would've found you in a heartbeat. She would just somehow know." He said quietly, as if he didn't really want to believe that.

Tai chuckled. "Yeah, well you got that right. I guess I made it easy for her though. I was in an old hangout for us when we played soccer together." He told him.

"Where is she now?"

"Sleeping." He peeked over at the tree house and smiled when he saw her head sticking out the window. _Of course she'd be awake._ He thought to himself. Though he wasn't going to mention that she was awake to Matt. She would talk to him when she was ready.

Matt sighed. "I guess you won right?" He said quietly.

Tai looked back at him quickly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's always been one of those unspoken competitions between us, hasn't it? And although I wanted to think I was winning, I wasn't. I was just making everyone miserable. She wanted you from the start and deep down, I knew that. I just didn't want to believe it. I guess what I mean is that I'm not mad at you for taking her away, I'm mad at myself for not being able to keep her, and for not letting her go when I should have. I'm sorry Tai." He looked down and sighed again. He really was sorry. Tai knew that and he wasn't angry. He could never be angry at someone who loved Sora just like he did.

"It's ok Matt. We all do crazy things when we love someone, right? And I'm probably the king of crazy and stupid things when it comes to Sora. Believe me, I understand."

Matt smiled at that. "Yeah, you are."

"Hey! You're not supposed to agree!" Matt just laughed at him. "But I guess I truly am. I mean, first not talking to her, and then that stupid song," He shook his head, wishing he could go back and change some of those stupid mistakes.

"Hey, at least the things you did only hurt yourself and not everyone."

"You seem to forget that those things hurt her too." He reminded him.

Matt laughed. "Yeah but it hurt you too, unlike my selfish acts." Then Matt stood up and stretched. "Well, tell Sora when she gets up, that she can call me whenever she's ready. And you can tell her that I'm sorry and I'd even understand if she never chose to call me."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Well, somebody has to tell everyone that you've been found." He told him as he walked away, waving one hand without looking back. Tai just smiled and shook his head. He turned around and noticed that Sora's head was gone. He smiled wondering if she was going to pretend she had been sleeping the whole time. She climbed back into the tree house and sure enough, she was lying on the floor with his jacket over her, pretending to be asleep.

"You're too late, I saw you. Plus, you had been lying over on that side of the tree house." He told her, pointing to the real spot they had been sleeping in. She opened one eye and looked up at him. "Oops." She said with a smile and sat up.

He laughed and sat down next to her. "I take it I don't need to give you Matt's message?"

"Nope. Heard it loud and clear." She said with a smile.

"I also take it you get how I feel about you?" He said looking at her sideways.

"Hmmm, I don't know, I've never been that good with body language." She teased and he just rolled his eyes at her.

"Do I really have to say it?" He asked.

She smiled and nodded. "Fine if that's how you want it. I love you! Are you happy now? I'll even scream it if you want. I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!! Is that good enough?" He asked and she just started laughing. He crossed his arms. "It's not funny." He said with a mock mad face. She laughed once more then leaned over and kissed him.

"Ok grumpy. It's not funny at all." She said, trying to hold in her giggles.

Then he started laughing and he put an arm around her. "And from now on, you are my girlfriend and I don't think I'll take no for an answer because I really don't want this ever happening again." He told and she laughed.

"You'd never need to take no as an answer because I'd never answer no." She told him.

"Well good. Now that that's taken care of we better go let everyone know we're alive. Apparently they're all looking for us."

She smiled. "I know." She said and laughed.

"Oh, that's right. Of course you'd already know that." He said remembering her little head sticking out the window.

"Alright then let's go." She said, grabbing his hand and going down the latter.

*********

Done with all the chapters!!! I'll just add on an epilogue and we're done!!! YAY! Wow, this chapter was a long one. Sorry it took so long. I didn't get many motivating reviews. Only one to be exact. Please review before I need to start begging! Well, I already kinda am but oh well. REVIEW!


	11. Epilogue

This is it!!! The last part of my story! The epilogue! I'm so sad it's all over! I had soooo much fun writing this and I love all my fans (even if it isn't huuuge list of you. lol) But I really love you guys and I'm so sad it's over that I might have to write another one soon. I'm not sure what anime it'll be for yet but it'll be good. Promise!

KoumiLoccness – Thanks so much for reviewing every single one of my chapters! You're reviews meant a lot to me throughout this and you really made me want to write more so thanks!!

Jelotto – Thanks! And I have an idea about the title. You'll see. lol And I agree with you about the music. That was the whole reason I put that in there. I feel like music can express so much more then words can at times so I just had to have it in there. And here's the epilogue like you wanted!

Nanny-panter – You're review almost made me cry!! It's ok that you didn't review earlier. I still love what you said. This was my first story so I was so afraid no one would like it but then to hear such nice words from you makes me sooo happy. That's actually what made me stop everything I was doing and to finish this right now. And sorry I confused you by the way. I'm just glad you still liked it so much!

And now that this is the end I want to thank everyone that ever reviewed this story because I really love to hear your comments. I also want to thank anyone who didn't review this story but loved it anyway or anyone who kept reading along as this story went on. I felt I needed to say that now that this story is through. So once again, THANKS!!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, for the last time.

Enjoy!!!

**Digimon: Almost**

Epilogue

Tai was staring down the microwave waiting for the damn popcorn to pop already! Sora was waiting in the living room and if they were ever going to watch the movie, they were going to need the popcorn! Well maybe that was a bit dramatic but he was being impatient. When it finally finished he took the hot bag out of the microwave and put the popcorn in a bowl before returning to the living room.

"Sorry that took so long." Tai said as he sat on the couch.

Sora laughed at him. "Tai, you were only gone a few minutes."

"Well they were some very long minutes I guess."

Sora laughed again and looked at the table in front of her. On it four movies were laid out. "So, which one?" she asked.

"Hmmm…" Tai began to think as the door to Tai and Kari's room opened. Tai looked back to see Kari and TK walking towards the door. "Hey! Wait! Where are you two going?" he asked as he jumped up and in front of the front door.

Kari laughed at him. "We were going to go meet the others so we could go to the digital world. I haven't seen Gatomon in a while. Gatomon and the others had gone back with the old DigiDestined's Digimon so we could sort things out. Plus I'm sure they'd all love to hear about what happened." She told him and Tai nodded.

"So…" Tai said slowly. "What were you guys doing in our room?" He asked Kari with a smile on.

Kari began blushing. "Nothing! Well, it-it's none of your business! Come on TK! Let's go!" She said quickly.

***

Sora just shook her head and laughed at Tai as he teased Kari and TK. They were both blushing so much they're faces matched in color. TK looked a little scared. Probably didn't want Tai to get mad at him for doing anything with his sister. But they all knew Tai didn't care all that much. He was happy Kari and TK were together but that didn't stop him from teasing them.

"She's right, just go you two." She said smiling at the three of them in the doorway.

Kari and TK nodded before ducking out the door.

"Bye!!!!" Tai shouted to them, still laughing.

He came back over and sat down next to Sora. "I can't help myself." He said with an impish smile.

She just laughed again and shook her head. "Yeah I know."

He laughed. "But I am happy they have each other. I mean, they spend every waking moment together. If they aren't somewhere together then they're on the phone." He laughed.

"You mean the way we are?" She asked and they both laughed.

"Yeah, I guess." He said with a smile.

Then he leaned over and kissed her just for the heck of it.

***

Kari walked down the hall of the apartments still so embarrassed from Tai's teasing. At least Sora always stopped him. She looked over at TK and laughed at the look on his face. It looked just like hers. He looked over at her and smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, you just look mortified." She said with a chuckle.

He laughed and his face relaxed. "Like you looked any better." He laughed. Then leaned over and kissed her.

"So where are we meeting the others?" She asked.

***

"At the park. It seems to be a new popular place for meetings." TK said with a laugh. It was true. All the Operation Tofu meetings had been held there. Tai and Sora had even met there that night. Once Matt had told everyone where they were everyone had quickly went there and sure enough they were sitting in the very same park they had met in earlier that evening.

Kari laughed. "Yeah. Well, at least we know that everyone knows where it is." She laughed. He smiled. Her laugh always made him smile. She in general always made him smile. He was so glad they were together now and all the complicated stuff was behind them. Same went for everyone else. Things were working out. Well except for Matt.

Matt told TK he was fine. He told him that he understood and he was just glad that they were happy but TK had a hard time believing that.

***

Matt looked out his window and sighed. He had canceled on his band again and he had a feeling they were getting annoyed with him. He couldn't help it. He wasn't lying when he had said he was happy for Tai and Sora. He really was happy for them. He was just said for himself. He knew Sora was better off and he knew that he had been wrong to keep the two of them apart. He knew in time he'd get over her. He'd just wait it out and the future would be brighter.

Waiting was the hard part. He got up and walked outside. He took his cell phone out and dialed his band mate's number.

"Hey, look, I'm coming ok? I really don't need to miss another practice." He hung up the phone and continued towards the place his band met. He smiled and figured, _hey, if Tai can write a song to feel better, why can't I?_

***

Cody looked at the time and then at Davis in front of him eating. He was supposed to come over to bring Davis to the Digital World but Davis insisted on eating first. He sighed in impatience.

"Are you done yet? We're going to be late." He said unhappily.

"Fine, fine, I'm done." He said as he got up and put his plate in the sink. Cody sighed in relieve and stood up. Davis was pretty cranky lately. Probably because TK and Kari were dating. He sighed. Did Davis really think Kari was going to fall head over heels in love with him???

Cody had never thought that. Without another word they got up and left, heading for the park.

***

Davis walked down the streets with a frown. He could tell he was annoying Cody with his attitude lately but he didn't really care. He wasn't seriously upset about TK and Kari. Just a little grumpy. He knew Kari was happy and that made him ok with it, in a sense. It did still annoy him a bit.

They finally reached the park and no one was here.

"What the hell, I'm always late to these things." He said, confused.

Cody laughed. "That's because I told you we were meeting them an hour before they were really coming. And thanks to that, we are right on time." He said smiling.

Davis frowned. "Hmmm, I guess I've got to give you props, that was smart."

Cody just laughed before Yolei and Ken walked into the park.

"Hey guys!!" Davis yelled as he ran towards them.

"Um, hello." Ken said quietly.

"Hi!" Yolei screamed in the exact opposite way. Davis wondered a lot how they ended up dating. He shrugged it off and smiled at them.

***

Ken smiled as Davis ran up to them and said a quiet greeting. It was funny how loud he used to be when he was evil and how he bossed everyone around. He was always yelling. Now he never wanted to say too much. He was pretty quiet. Funny how opposite his best friend and his girl friend were to him.

They walked further into the park and sat down on a bench. Davis followed them and when he saw Cody they said a quick hello. Then Kari and TK came soon after. Davis got kinda quiet which is strange for him but he knew why. Poor Davis liked Kari and now she was with TK. But he had to have known she liked him. It had been so clear to Ken and he had just joined the group not long ago.

"Ok, so are we ready to leave?" Yolei asked everyone. Everyone agreed and they began to walk towards the school.

They all talked and joked, and even Ken felt like he was part of the group, saying a few things. They finally got to the school and he turned to Yolei and smiled. "Finally here." He said.

***

"Yep." Yolei said with a smile. They walked into the building holding hands and the group made their way to the computer room. When they got there they saw they weren't alone. Inside the room were Joe, Izzy, and Mimi. Joe and Izzy were hunched over a computer screen and Mimi was sitting in a chair next to Izzy brushing her hair.

"Hi guys!" Yolei said, running over to them. Joe looked up and smiled at the group. "You guys going to the digital world?" He asked.

"Yep!" Yolei said happily. Izzy and Mimi both looked up and smiled. "Hi." They said at the same time. Then they looked at each other and laughed.

Yolei smiled. She was so happy for them. Mimi was happy looking and she could tell Izzy had wanted the same thing all along.

She pulled out her D3 and pointed it at the computer they always used. "Well it was nice seeing you guys but we got to go. Come on guys!" She said as she got sucked into the computer.

***

Joe watched as they all went into the digital world to see their friends. He wished he could go but he had to go too. He had classes soon. He was taking a weekend class so that he could keep up on his studies on the weekend. He didn't want to slack on his work.

He looked down at his watch. He had to leave soon. Izzy was fixing his computer since now it really did break and he had a term paper due. Karma worked in funny ways. He'd have to stay up all night working on the paper now that he had no time thanks to his computer. He sighed and looked over at Izzy. He was looking at Mimi as she continued looking at herself in a small mirror she had in her hand. He sighed. He'd never get his computer done by tonight and he had to leave for classes now.

"Hey Izzy, I have to go to class now but you think you'll be done with the computer by tonight?" he asked hopeful.

"Yeah, I'll have it done. We'll stop by later to drop it off." He promised Joe. Joe smiled and nodded.

"Ok, thanks. See you later!" And with that, he ran out the door.

***

Mimi out the mirror down and looked up at Izzy. He was working on the computer again. She sighed. She loved Izzy with all her heart, but this was a little boring. At the moment she thought that he turned towards her and smiled.

"All done. And to think Joe only just left." He laughed.

Mimi smiled. "Well I'm glad you're done. I was getting bored." She said with a fake pout.

He laughed and leaned in to kiss her pouty lips. At that she couldn't help but smile into the kiss. It was just as loving and sweet as their first kiss. All his kisses were like that, she was learning. She pulled her lips away and stood up. She turned around and sat on the desk next to the computer.

He was smiling at her but he had a questioning look on his face. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm getting comfortable." She told him before kissing him again.

This time he stood up while they were kissing and wrapped his arms around her. She was a little surprised when the normal sweet and loving kiss turned a bit more passionate. She smiled again though, realizing that no matter how his kisses were at the moment, she was loving every single one of them.

***

Izzy pulled away and smiled at her. She was so beautiful and he loved her so much. If he ever had to lose her again, he didn't know what he'd do with himself. Then he frowned. She leaned in for another kiss but stopped when she noticed the frown. She jumped down from the desk and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked down at the ground. "It's nothing. It's just…" He trailed off and she put a finger under his chin and pulled his face up from the floor to her eyes.

"You can tell me what's wrong." She told him honestly.

He smiled at her. "It's just, I was thinking about how I'm going to have to lose you again."

"What are you talking about??" She asked.

"Well, you can't stay away from school forever." He told her. He knew that school had started again a week ago, after winter break so she really needed to get back.

This time she frowned and looked down at the ground. "We can write, and text, and email." She said quietly.

Izzy shook his head. "That's not good enough! We can't do this!" He kissed her quickly to prove his point but it was a sad kiss and he knew she could feel it.

She looked down at the ground. "I know but there's nothing I can do." She said, tears in her eyes.

Izzy sighed. He hadn't meant to make her upset. "I know. It's just…frustrating." He summed up.

She nodded. "I can understand that." She said with a smile.

"So, um, when are you supposed to be leaving?" He asked quietly.

She looked down. "Um, well my parent told me I have to be home by, well, today." She said slowly.

Izzy looked at her quickly. "What? Today? And you didn't tell me?" He asked.

"Well, I guess I just wanted to wish it away." She said quietly. He frowned but nodded.

"I can understand that." He said quietly. "So, does that mean this is it? Until next time, of course. And of course we'll write and everything." He said looking at the ground.

"I guess so. I should probably catch the next flight I can." She said quietly. They walked out of the building slowly, not really wanting to get to where they were going. The airport and Izzy's house were in two different directions. They made it outside, still quiet, at a very slow pace. He turned towards her and smiled.

"We'll see each other soon. I know it." He said with a smile. She smiled and nodded as tears spilled over. He wiped them away and kissed her lovingly. He kissed for a long moment, not wanting to end their last kiss for awhile. Finally, after awhile, they both pulled away and looked at each other. He gave her a smile through tear filled eyes and choked out a "Good bye."

She did the same and said "Bye." through her tears before turning around and walking in the other direction. He turned around too and walked towards his. House he took the long route and ended up getting home pretty late.

As he walked though, he knew he just had to think. He couldn't go home just yet. He also didn't want his mom too worried about him coming home so late with tears in his eyes. After awhile he walked up the steps to his apartment and opened the door. As he took his shoes off he called to his mom. "Mom?? I'm home! Are you here?" He yelled.

"Yes, honey, I'm in the kitchen. You have a visitor waiting for you." She called back. He tilted his head. Who could be here waiting for him?

He walked into the kitchen and there, sitting at the table was the most beautiful angle he'd ever seen. "Mimi?! What are you doing here??"

He was so surprised. She should've been on a plane by now. What was she doing here?

"Jeez Izzy, what did you do? Get lost going to your own house?" She teased.

"Mimi, why are you here? What about your parents? Did they say you could stay longer??" He asked, still really confused.

She smiled so brightly it made him smile. "Nope, even better. I'm not going back."

Now he couldn't stop smiling. "But, how?" He asked.

"It took me about five seconds after we separated to realize that I need you and I couldn't go through losing you again." She told him.

Izzy noticed his mother discreetly leave the room and held in a laugh. Then he looked at Mimi and smiled. "But what about your parents?" he asked.

"I talked to them and they said if I feel that strongly about moving back then we will and they'll put me in this school as soon as possible. And since I'm already here, they said I can just stay at a friend's house until they get here and move back into a house and everything," She explained.

"This is great!" He said happily. Then he grabbed her and kissed her quickly with all the happiness he was feeling. When he pulled away she was smiling brightly. "And do you know which friend's house I said I'll stay at?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Um, I don't know, Yolei's?" He asked.

"No silly! Yours!" She shouted.

"Here?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yep! I already asked your mom and she said that's fine." She said smiling.

Izzy kissed her again, so happy that what he thought would be a separation, turned out to be them being closer.

He thought back to how crazy these past weeks have been. Or maybe even before then. How crazy this whole thing with Mimi had turned out. And now they were together and happy and he couldn't even believe it.

And to think, that he had almost missed out on this.

*********

I tried to show this from EVERYONE'S point of view at one point to finish this off. And I also figured out something for the title! I know, I'm clever. Anyways:

T_________________T I'm sooooooooo sad right now!!!! I can't believe I finished this!!! I'm going to cry! I hope everyone like my first fan fiction!! I sure enjoyed writing it, even if I did slack on updates at times. I really do love this story and I hope you guys do too!! Thanks for reading this and please, please, review now that it's over! I may not be able to comment on your reviews like I have been but I will still check them and read them and love them so please, even if this story is really old by the time your reading this, please review!!! I love you all and goodbye!!!!!!!!!


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